


What Makes a Monster?

by Bad_Dreems, Mz_Mere (Gelasia_Kidd)



Series: Dreamer's End [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Gore, Developed Magic Theory, Dialogue Heavy, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Execution Points, Extensive World Building, Gun Violence, Heavy Angst, Horror, Implied Non-con Imprisonment, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, LEVEL OF VIOLENCE, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Racist Language, References to Alcohol, References to Depression, References to Drugs, Verbal Abuse, Will Worsen until the End
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2019-08-14 16:21:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 200,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16496069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bad_Dreems/pseuds/Bad_Dreems, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gelasia_Kidd/pseuds/Mz_Mere
Summary: Who are we to point a fingerWracked with ridicule and scorn?The horrible beasts who lingerEvil from the day they were born?But in the end, when the demon is deadand you hold your head up high, you feel you've won,But that emptiness soughts to stay in your head,It'll linger long after the deed is done.Who were you to condemn the Monster who Bled?ᴵᵀ ᵀᴬᴷᴱˢ ᴼᴺᴱ ᵀᴼ ᴷᴺᴼᵂ ᴼᴺᴱ.ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ ᴀʟʟ ᴍᴀᴅ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ʜᴇʀᴇ.





	1. .Psychosomatic Censure

**Author's Note:**

> This work is a continuation of "The Monster Who Bled"  
> If you haven't read through it: I STRONGLY recommend you do, otherwise this work will be full of SPOILERS!  
> And not the good kind either!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've really done it now...  
> Didn't your mother teach you any better?
> 
> You'll have plenty of time to think about what you've done.  
> When you ＢＵＲＮ ＩＮ ＨＥＬＬ.

[Hallowed Lab (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/cQ8Ryq38Dto)

 

He slowly stood.  
  
  
Here, was darkness. It was brought in by the lack of life in this hollow room, but restrained by the boundaries of perspective: conformed to resemble the lab he was standing in. This atmosphere of lust for absolute dominance was contested by the glow of the screen.  
  
The console...the very centerpiece of the room: the reason he was here. It still had more to show him despite everything he’d witnessed.  
  
That damned screen… why did he provoke it?

 

Every doubt was becoming concrete, and every fear becoming reality: what more did it seek to do to him?

He gazed into it, he _had_ to: it _wanted_ him to see this, it wanted him to remember… it didn't want to let him  _forget..._ never. 

 

The machine cast a new world of shapes and figures inside its rectangular confines… but it portrayed this new world through a filter of monochrome red and black… like an old film real dipped in scarlet ink. From the looks of it, the exaggerated jerkiness and rapidity of colors: it was being rewound, just so he could see it from the start.

 

The image was plagued by artifacts and screen tears, dust covered every frame: and it only would worsen as it wound itself further back. But eventually, it found the place it wanted to start at: and the recollection played for him.

He watched as two figures formed out of the blackness, even when they were still indistinguishable masses of ink, he knew who they were, he knew what they represented… and he knew what was going to happen: he’d lived this part already-

 

_ᵀᴴᴱ ᴷᴵᴸᴸᴱᴿ ᵂᴬˢ ˢᴹᴵᴸᴵᴺᴳ_

_“- I guess you forget what it’s like when you’ve been away from it for so long._  
_But you though… I was so quick to just brand you, just because you weren’t normal to me, because you didn't attack me like anyone else would, I don’t think it’s normal for anyone, let alone a person or a… monster? To be this_  
_nice."_  
  
  
_ᵀᴴᴬᵀ ᴵᴺᴺᴼᶜᴱᴺᵀ face almost matched her ᴮᴱᴬᵁᵀᴵᶠᵁᴸ ᴿᵁᴮᵞ eyes now, humbled to the point of embarrassment. ˢᴴᴱ ᵂᴬˢ ˢᴼ ᴷᴵᴺᴰ_  
  
_But it flushed away when she picked her care out from the soliloquy. ᴮᴱᶜᴬᵁˢᴱ ˢᴴᴱ ᶜᴬᴿᴱᴰ ᴬᴮᴼᵁᵀ ᴴᴵᴹ_  
  
_“You really have it rough out there huh?”_

He watched as _ᵀᴴᴱ ᴷᴵᴸᴸᴱᴿ slinked through the gargantuan door. ᶜᴼᴺᴰᴱᴹᴺᴵᴺᴳ ᴴᴱᴿ ᵀᴼ ᴰᴵᴱ_  
  
“You don’t know the half of it.”

 

ᴬᴺᴰ ᴴᴱ ˢᶜᴬᴹᴾᴱᴿᴱᴰ ᴬᵂᴬᵞ ᴸᴵᴷᴱ ᴬ ᶜᴼᵂᴬᴿᴰ: ᴿᵁᴺᴺᴵᴺᴳ ᴬᵂᴬᵞ ᶠᴿᴼᴹ ᴴᴵˢ ᴬᶜᵀᴵᴼᴺˢ. ᴴᴱ ᴴᴬᴰ ᴷᴵᴸᴸᴱᴰ ᴴᴱᴿ ᴶᵁˢᵀ ᴬˢ ᴵᶠ ᴴᴱ ᴾᵁᵀ ᴬ ᴳᵁᴺ ᵀᴼ ᴴᴱᴿ ᴴᴱᴬᴰ ᴬᴺᴰ ᴾᵁᴸᴸᴱᴰ ᵀᴴᴱ ᵀᴿᴵᴳᴳᴱᴿ.

 

And just like that, _**ᵀᴼᴿᴵᴱᴸ ᵂᴬˢ ᴰᴱᴬᴰ**_

 

Suddenly, the film began to speed up, the artifacts sporadically appeared and vanished as the pace became frantic: showcasing many lonely hours in the span of seconds. The camera hadn’t moved: the room remained the same: empty and desolate.

But the film snapped back to normal play at just the moment it desired. The room, it was overrun by the procession of soldiers. Each of them, equipped with large hooks and shackles, fit to drag every last soul to hell with him: they all had his name on it, but only one of them would find him, the rest, digging into every monster. Killer by killer, they walked in.

 

When the last soldier departed from the camera, the film skipped and cut once more: the images blended into a blurry strobe, fast forwarding from what he knew that happened, to what he knew was _going_ to happen… occasionally freezing. Still images of terrified faces, muzzle flashes, and blood splatters. They flashed, faster and faster, each burning into the screen only to be purged by the next…

But then it abruptly stopped…

 

The reel had ended, and the show was over… leaving only a black screen… a black screen: inhabited by _her._ She brought with her: the sounds of her sobs.

 

[A Broken Heart (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/fFzEkCfO5qE)

 

Toriel had been shot countless times: that elegant looking robe was riddled with bullet holes, each dripping with her spent life. Parts of her form were simply gone, as if large chunks of her had been blown away.

 

Her face, half of it wasn’t even there: exposing a charred skull. And her eyes, had been gouged out: leaving empty, sunken sockets… staring at all, but seeing nothing.

 

She was sitting on the ground, in a puddle of her own blood: littered with bullet casings. She continued to sob… the harrowing sound projected through the entire room: like the walls themselves were speakers. But occasionally, the gruesome image would shift and violently jerk to different proportions: gaining and losing size within fractions of seconds. _Glitching…_ like corrupted video feed.

 

Suddenly, there was a brief break in the sobs.

 **“** **_Why?...”_ **

 

She had turned what was left of her head so that he could look right into those empty sockets, he could see red lights peeking from the backs of them: the way she was staring even without eyes… she wasn’t looking at the camera: **she was looking at him.** Even as horrible as she looked, the look on her face… she looked like a wounded animal, staring into his eyes and inflicting all of the hurt.

 

He didn’t react, and she implored once again: managing to project her sweet voice despite the holes taking so much from her.

 

“ **_Why did you do this to me?..._ **

**All I wanted to do was** **_help_ ** **you… was that really such a bad thing? Did I do something wrong??”**

 

But he still remained stockstill, willful against her cries and showing no reaction. They only became more sorrowful, sounding like broken hopes echoing through the room. He could see red tears managing to fall from her empty sockets.

 

Her voice weakened even more, withered to a feeble, quivering whisper.

“ **I loved you like a child… I wanted to give you the whole world, and you took mine away…”**

 

The glitching was worsening, yet every stutter: he could see her growing: as if moving closer to the screen. She held out her arm: bones with scraps of cloth and flesh sporadically clinging on: she held it out to reach for him, and her sorrow reached the peak with her final tearful entreaty.

 **“Do you really hate me** **_that_ ** **much??...”**

 

And she buried her face into her boney claws. There was near silence after this, not a sound above her barely audible weeps.

And him, finally acting in the crying face of consequences: he turned away, shunning her as he did in her life.

Nary a soul was saved, he had nothing more for her.

 

Suddenly, the look of the remains of Toriel changed: she stopped hunching in her wounded looking state and stood perfectly straight, just to remind of how she towered over him.

 

[Reprimand (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/6tGBG6WuGjg)

 

The crying stopped, Toriel’s head jerked to look down at him: joints snapping and strands of hanging muscles tearing. The look of a wounded animal stayed on her, but now it looked far less pitiful… now it looked fierce and angry.

 

“ **_What!?_ ** Is _THAT_ what you’re going to do?!”

 

Her movements became twitchy and instantaneous, as the _glitching_ worsened: the lights buried so far inside her empty sockets brightened. Despite the holes, her voice became louder, more assertive… sounding much less like she ever did. It was furious and growling.

 

“ _ᵀᴴᴵˢ_ ᴵˢ ᴬᴸᴸ ᵞᴼᵁ ᴰᴼ?! ᴬᶠᵀᴱᴿ ᴵ **ˢᴬᵛᴱᴰ** ᵞᴼᵁ, ᵀᴼᴼᴷ ᵞᴼᵁ ᴵᴺ, ᴹᴱᴺᴰᴱᴰ ᵞᴼᵁᴿ ᵂᴼᵁᴺᴰˢ ᴬᴺᴰ ᶜᴸᴼᵀᴴᴱᴰ ᵞᴼᵁ. ᴬᶠᵀᴱᴿ ᴵ ***ᵂᴱᴾᵀ*** ᴬᴺᴰ * **_ˢᵁᶠᶠᴱᴿᴱᴰ_ ** ***** ᶠᴼᴿ ᵞᴼᵁ... ᴬᶠᵀᴱᴿ _ᴬᴸᴸ_ ᵞᴼᵁ'ᵛᴱ ᴾᵁᵀ ᴹᴱ ᵀᴴᴿᴼᵁᴳᴴ... ᴬᴺᴰ ᵞᴼᵁ'ᴿᴱ ᴺᴼᵀ ᴱᵛᴱᴺ ***ˢᴼ** **ᴿᴿᵞ?!*”**

 

She roared at him: the walls shook, and the silence all around began to devolve into static. The vision snarled at him, flaring her rows and rows of vicious fangs. The image began to break up, splotches of black began clouding up the red. But still, he refused to acknowledge it, paying no mind to anything.

 

 _She_ noticed: and it only frenzied her even more as he pressed herself to the brink of the image, loudly reprimanding him with shrill and even _louder_ screams that tore from the walls.

“Ｈｏｗ, ＤＡＲＥ ｙｏｕ??  ＨＯＷ **_ＤＡＲＥ_ ** ＹＯＵ!!!! ＤＯＮ'Ｔ ＹＯＵ ＴＵＲＮ ＡＷＡＹ ＦＲＯＭ **_ＭＥ!!!!!”_ **

 

He ducked his head down and clenched his eyes shut as tight as he could, so she couldn’t force him to take a glimpse. He cupped his hands over his ears so the shrill voice couldn’t reach him. He held his breath so he couldn’t tempt it with a response.

 

“Ｌｏｏｋ ａｔ ｍｅ!!!

Ｌｏｏｋ ｗｈａｔ ｙｏｕ _ＤＩＤ!!!_

ＬＯＯＫ ＡＴ ＭＥ!!!!  

**_ＬＯＯＯＯＫ ＡＴ ＭＥＥＥＥＥ!!!!!-”_ **

 

The ear splitting scream persisted, carrying forever like a destructive gale howling through the cracks of the world. It grew even louder and _louder:_ she had screamed so loud that the very foundations of the room began to shake, festering and fracturing as the banshee like scream pushed itself between their very fabrics that held them together. Through the ear splitting wail, he could hear the loud, spontaneous sound of glass splintering from the stress.

 

When it mutated to the point that his head would explode from the thunderous noise: he couldn’t hold out for any longer: he leapt out from himself and turned to face the screaming monster.

He caught the small glimpse of her, as she lunged for him, bursting the glass facade. The black emptiness from inside spilled out with her, flooding the room like smoke.  

 

The monster had missed completely pouncing him by inches, but she immediately leapt from the floor, her exposed joints creaked and cracked as she pushed after him.

 

As he found himself backed to a wall, defined world began to fade, darkness began to consume the room, closing in on him. It continuously poured from the gaping hole in the screen, and as the monster approached him: he could see that the clouds belonged to _her._ She was emitting the suffocating smog from her unnatural orifices, from an unseen fire.

And she emitted her horrible new voice once more, shrill but restrained, to naught but a whisper that quivered with her twitches. So close that he could smell the smog pushing the words from her, must and death. She knew she’d gotten his attention, and took no burden to relay this next part, even sounding giddy: nervous with joy.

 

“Ｙｏｕ'ｒｅ ｇｏｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｂｕｒｎ...”

 

With his undivided attention, and lack of any digression she extended her ratty claws, clutching him. They were as cold as clay. She stared directly into him, and screamed: forcing the words into his soul.

“ＹＯＵ'ＲＥ ＧＯＩＮＧ ＴＯ **_ＢＵＲＮ!!_ **!”

 

Her free extremity bent back and unsheathed a set of long, dagger like claws. She brought it up high and screamed at him: swinging at him with a fell motion.

 

His hand jumped in front of him to shield from it: and he felt the fire tearing through his skin, severing his opened palm. He yelled, the agony echoed from the sleek metal walls and overpowered her unearthly screams, and in moments: the smog was ousted by a brilliant glow that took the entire existence. When Brainz opened his eyes again, the lights were on, and she was gone… nothing remained of her, but the dithering remains of her cries resonating in his ears.

 

* * *

  
  
[She's Gone (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/PQGZsa1ll0E)

 

He found himself pressed up against the wall facing the large computer. He standing in a puddle of his own icy cold sweat, more of it collected as it beaded from his flesh in the cool room. His heart drummed in cadence with his panting.

 

He was still in the aptly named lab, just where he’d left himself. He almost couldn’t make himself look at the ever so surprising screen, forgetting if he ever turned it off: incredibly unwilling to see _anything_ else it could’ve shown him.

 

That wasn’t an issue: in fact, that would  _never_ be an issue again... because the screen was broken: blue and orange sparks shot out from it.

 

“ _No…_ that didn’t actually happen… I was _hallucinating…_ it couldn’t have-.”

 

His senses came back to him faster than they had ever before following a blackout, there was no questioning it: he’d never felt more awake, but never so unsure about it. But he saw all of the thin shards of glass scattered on the tile floor, along with his crowbar and bag.

“Did I do this?...”

 

He didn’t recall dropping his things, and he didn’t recall smashing the screen… he only saw her… _it,_ do it.

 

It made his head throb in multiple places, Brainz punched the bridge of his nose just under-

“ _Ow!”_

 

He made a hushed wince under his breath when his hand provided a more sharp feeling pain, he held it out and felt his eyes widening in their sockets. There was a fine cut spanning one of the creases of his palm, the red had just started to seep out from it: it was a fresh wound.

 

“No no _no…_ it _can’t_ be… that’s impossible-”

 

The fear and frustration would only fester into long lasting dread, he had a lone twitch.

“- she’s **_dead!-”_ **

 

He clenched the hurt hand into a fist, fighting the pain it sent back at him.

“- she’s dead…”

 

But he couldn’t hold it for very long, and the sorrow clambered over the anger he tried to protect himself with… it forced him to admit what he’d done with a very unsteady voice, and a tightness in his throat.

“- she’s _dead…_ because of me… they _all_ are… they’re going to kill every last… _thing_ down here, looking for me…”

 

Brainz opened his hand again, the small coating of red sticking to his fingers and bandages, he never sounded more morose.

“- if it wasn’t for me, they woulda never found this place: but _now…”_

 

Bitterness, self loathing.

“- they’re _f-fucked-._

 

Then anger, rising back.

“- they’re fucked!-”

 

He couldn’t stop saying it, leaning much emphasis on his torn lips: barely separating his teeth, yet his voice was dampened. Keeping the expletives under his voice, only for himself.

“- they’re fucked!

They’re fucked!

They’re fucked!

_Fucked!_

_Fucked!_

_Fuck_

_Fuck_

**_FUCK!!!”_ **

 

He put the most energy in to the last one, and buried his head into his hands, unconcerned with dirtying it again with the cut.

“ _MMmm-Mmmnn-mnn._

**_MMMMHHmmmmn!”_ **

 

He grumbled and growled inside of himself, straining the back of his throat to vocalize the outright frustration and helplessness.

 

In the end, that’s what it boiled down to: **helplessness**.

 

When it was considered: this was **_inevitable,_ ** it didn’t matter what Brainz did in this twisted world. The creatures he’d wronged, the ones he’d harmed, the reputation he’d personally ensured would precede him _here_ of all places. No matter what he did, the reason he fell down here in the first place, was going to be the same reason everything was utterly doomed.

 

He was about to come to this conclusion on his own, but he still had to work through the inordinate anxiety, stuck with denial. He paced back and forth, getting worse with every iteration of-

“What am I gonna do?

What’m I gonna _do?_

What- am I going _to DO????_

_What am I gonna DOO???”_

 

He wasn’t even saying this to help himself, not even to openly ask himself to come up with a plan to save the day. Brainz was deeply and openly hoping someone would come through and answer for him… but who was going to help him now?

 

He killed the only one who did.

 

A small burst of sparks jumping out of the damaged console caused Brainz to recoil: convincing him to pace a few more meters _away_ from the dangerous electricity.

 

It was all going how it should, how it _always_ went… he even tried to warn them: the real reason he was always running from _someone…_ why he couldn’t stay. He wasn’t trying to keep _them_ away from _him…_ it was the other way around. The trend was, that _everybody_ who spent enough time in his presence would be preyed upon by his very own due retribution. They take the fall for being with him, while he gets away… with his past too preoccupied on his latest victims to give chase.

 

There it was; the _big secret_ to the horrible “Suspect Omega” how he always got away, what nobody ever counted on: that staggering number of victims… how many of them weren’t from his own hand, but from the very _heroes_ who had come in guns blazing to rescue them from this monster. Why slow down the effort with technicality? Just blame it on Brainz, he deserves it.

 

“That kid… those little guys, Temmie…”

He could only assume they were a loss… just more regrets.

 

“ _Flowey…”_

He suddenly looked up from his woes and self blames: the name broke his circle of despair, because it didn’t _fit._

 

The cycle was always the same, but _flowey…_ Flowey wasn’t supposed to happen, Flowey was the reason Brainz wasn’t just running away. This wasn’t an act of cowardice… it was a _rescue mission_ for a _child_ of all things. Brainz couldn’t know if, these things deserved their imprisonment: they certainly didn’t deserve _him_ and he knew Flowey deserved far better than him. 

 

But he did know, that as horrible as he was: he was all the kid had.

So... he felt that if he did this one thing to break the cycle, perhaps the one good deed that would give him the courage to _leave._ He was going to uphold his promise to this child and _FREE_ him from this nightmare. What better a man to pull a child out of hell, than a boogeyman like him?

 

He had what he needed to do so.

He had a goal.

He had the map.

He had the means.

And he had the incentive.

The only thing he _didn’t_ have, was time…

 

Brainz stopped feeling sorry for himself and turned back at the defunct monitor. He grit his teeth together, wishing it hadn’t been destroyed. Because now, after just drying off from all the wandering haplessness he’d been subjected to: he’d gone knee deep back into doubt. What he saw on the camera, the procession of soldiers: they could’ve been in the _back_ of the line. He saw it, they just wouldn’t stop coming… there could’ve been a hundred men who’d passed through that door already. They could’ve made the distance he’d made in the…day(s)? He traversed, in _half_ of the time. They could've been approaching his doorstep, right now...

 

The fact he was still here, meant that wasn't true: but regardless:

He had no way of knowing how far they’d gotten… and would only find out, firsthand. And the intense thoughts concerning that lead to another anxiety. He again, had to hold onto his head, because he felt it could fall off at a given notice. He spoke to himself, stuck in the state of awe that’d come up the moment he saw green camouflage on the screen.

“ _Maan_ am I in trouble… I’ve dealt with the feds before… but the _army…_ the fucking **_army?…_ ** _Hoo-ly Shit…_ I can _not_ deal with that… there’s no fuckin way, even _IF_ I had access to _real_ guns.”

 

It was almost flattering, in a cosmic kind of way: that he narked the government to the point they deployed troops on him. He almost wondered if they held a congressional hearing just on the manner of taking him down.

 

But the: United States Armed Forces, the **_military:_ ** he had nothing on them: he knew nothing on their inner workings and protocols. Not the tricks, in and outs he’s relied on to slip between law enforcement’s sweaty fingers: he would be up against a force far more powerful and aggressive than anything he’d ever seen. The only advantage here, was that here: he was going to be an enemy amongst many, and while the operation may have been in his name: there were plenty other _things_ to get in the way.  

 

And that’s what he was going to ride upon: high hopes that the confusion caused by this place would take him out of the spotlight long enough that he and Flowey could flee this place, while the bullets and blood flew below.

 

One last thought though, just something to smirk at for the sake of not obsessing over the grievous act he’d committed.

“Man though… first, that fuckin getaway, then the army rolls in, and now **_monsters,_** of all things… all related to me...  hoo-boy, forget having the christmas special on channel 5… I’m gonna be put in _so_ many books after this… I'm gonna go down in history, the most legendary scumbag to walk the earth." 

 

It set in, and he didn’t know how to feel about it.

“- you know… when I was just a kid sitting in Juvie: this never came to mind when that arbitrary “Where do you see yourself in 20 years?” thought came by…”

 

He rolled his eyes and pouted.

“- not even when they filled me to my gills with that “Truth Serum” shit, _that_ stuff made you see monsters, and all you had to do was look in the mirror or... at those shark smiles sitting across the desk,  _they_ should've been the ones handcuffed to it.

 

... _Anywho..."_

 

Avoiding the military was the only way he stood a chance: so it meant that he really needed to get a move on, lest he wait for someone to say “hello”. Brainz patted himself down in a quick check to make sure he was set to go, he’d forgotten about his hand and was only brought back to it when he had to wipe the smears off his “just cleaned” jacket. He seemed less than enthusiastic to address it.

“Right…”

 

He looked into the red slit, seeing the liquid beading up inside: he could’ve checked for another bandage… but strangely: he had no desire to do anything about it. It was going to bother him everytime he used his right hand, and it was begging for some foreign bacteria to turn it purple and have it fall off… but he felt content with leaving it like that. Some form of penance, too little too late... but he still did it.

 

He went to pick his crowbar up off the floor, hesitating from its proximity to the sparking screen: and barely reaching it from the furthest point he could. He brushed the small bits of glass off and managed to fit it snugly in his bag, it’d make readying it a bit of a job: but it was better than having to carry it around, especially after the fiasco with the bat. If anything, he would keep his handgun on the point. He felt his pockets and person to make sure everything was there.

 

On doing so: His other hand felt something “crinkly” in the one jacket pocket, it even returned a similar sound upon being disturbed. Brainz reached in and pulled out the object: a paper bag tied closed with a shoelace.

“ **_Temflakes…”_ **

 

He’d forgotten all about the sweet, innocent candies that’d been donated to him. How they brought him to that brief “OK” existence, taking the weight of the world off of him for just a moment… but seeing the baggie only made his stomach turn… he put it back in the pocket without opening it.

“I don’t want any…”

 

He turned towards the door he’d entered from and walked for it. Feeling heavier in more ways than one.

“- _only good boys get to have candy… not you: you’re a bad guy.”_

 

He almost considered leaving the bag behind, but it felt rude, more shameful than if he treated himself to the sweets.

“Maybe I’ll give them to Flowey, kid deserves something nice.”

 

Which also reminded him, he needed to warn Flowey about this! The military would be as impartial to a talking flower as a towering goat monster: he wasn’t going to lose _him_ too.

 

* * *

[Agoraphobia (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/Ga0Sg5y4Mmc)

He braced himself and approached the door, wincing and clenching as the wave flew in with the harsh glow. He’d been in this place long enough to grow accustomed to the cold air, the heat felt just a little more horrible than before. It even looked more unappealing as he saw the distortion in the doorway. One last breath of cold air, and he stepped outside.

 

Brainz walked back to the intersection, looking dead forward (and failing to see the still moist drops of blood he’d shed on the ground earlier). A hunch made him think he’d see the business end of a flashlight attached to a machine gun just down the way: emerging from the darkness across the bridges. But no, nothing and no-one: even as he squinted to see the snow covered guard booth: not even Sans.

 

_“Thank god.”_

He licked his lips and wheezed from the heat: and projected.

“ _Flowey?”_

 

He was on solid ground, which shouldn’t have been an issue for the kid: especially being that Brainz couldn’t find anyone around.

 

He called out, louder.

“ _Flowey, are you there?? I need to talk to you!”_

 

He was met with nothing but the sound of shifting, molten earth below. The sweat drops were soaking into his head wrap. Brainz stuttered some and held his slimey hand near his mouth. He put as much into his voice as he could, sounding as concerned as can be.

 _“_ **_FLOWEY!!!!”_ **

 

But nobody came…

 

He shook anxiously, his teeth chattered… but before it could get worse: he knew he didn’t have the time for it and took a quick sigh.

“ _OK. OK…_ it’s _fine…_ he’s been able to survive this for _so_ long: he can just hide anywhere he wants… he’ll be _fine…”_

 

Brainz nodded to himself, assuringly.

“I'll try again, a bit later... it'll be fine:Let’s go.”

 

He straightened himself, removed his map from its pocket and followed “ **Step One”** making a left and heading down some stairs.

 

“What? This isn’t right…”

 

For one: the theme had completely changed, no longer bright and radiant but reminding him of the soulless look of the dark corridors he had grown so accustomed to. To go with it: the air had inexplicably gotten _much_ cooler. Which was… impossible. There was a river awaiting him just at the bottom of the stairs, seeming to stretch to infinity on both horizons.

 

Brainz fumbled with his map, but slowed down soon after, remembering something.

“I was just holding it upside down… I’m supposed to go _North,_ this is South… I remember seeing this on the big map…”

 

He’d forgotten to draw a compass on his side of the paper, instead relying on the orientation of the picture on the back. The head of his poorly drawn “doppelganger” pointed north, he needed to remember that.

 

But being here made him feel peculiar, he scanned the river with its dark and murky water.

“Getting some Déjà vu again… looks like the river I stumbled to the _last_ time I committed some unspeakable act.”

He forgot to tack Gerson onto his internal list of atrocities, but now he didn’t: and he felt heavier for it now.

 

Brainz bent down and took a couple of handfuls of the frigid water up to his head: wiping the excess run off as it dripped from him. He got back to his feet and looked down one side of the river again,

“Guess it’s all connected… good to know… it’d probably come in handy if I had a _boat…_ ”

 

As sarcastic as that sounded, he thought of the river flowing with ice cubes that he’d passed right before running into Papyrus-

 

Oh yeah, that was another death under his name, and the conflicting info on his condition would make him doubt if he was the one to kill him, or if the soldiers would… _wonderful._

 

-and wondered how much time and suffering he’d save if he utilized it, perhaps if he’d taken the magical dock plank that had carried him across that one channel, or fastened a raft out of those bridge flowers-

 

He walked back up the stairs, into the heat.

 

-but he decided not to weigh himself further with these thoughts. He couldn’t change the past, and after all:  he didn’t need the river channel anyway, he was almost there.

 

Now, he took the north path: in correspondence to his incessant mumblings and the map: a cylindrical and dreadfully tall structure met him on this floor: it would be connected to the rest of them.

**_L1._**

And the button to call it down, Brainz spared just a moment before pressing it to bring out his gun, ready to point it at whatever could be waiting for him inside.

**_*click*_ **

 

He was obsessively uncertain if it would work, but seeing the button light up was a good sign: as well as the whirring sound he could hear from above: coming closer and closer. The doors slid open for a threatening posed human with a gun, but it was ultimately received by nobody as the car was empty. He lowered his weapon, not quite holstering it and he walked inside.

 

“Ahh, phew…”

To his discovery, the elevator seemed to have its own temperature regulated: while not nearly as brisk as the powerful air conditioner in the lab, it was a welcome thing. Provided with a pleasantly tacky checkerboarded floor and muzak to boot.

 [Hmm, where have I heard this before? (Soundtrack)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TmoYBcLul8)

 

He sighed from the inoffensive environment and went for the control panel.

“Let’s see… I’m looking for a-”

 

Quick glance at his map, just in case he’d forgotten in the span of the 27 seconds it’d been since he last obsessively looked at the map.

“- floor **3R,** and _this_ is-”

 

The way the panel worked, there was no overhead screen to inform the occupant of which floor they were currently on, but instead the corresponding button to the floor would be lit up when the rest were not. Brainz matched this with the title of the lift.

“- **1L,** perfect…”

 

Just one particular thought as he peered away from the buttons for just a moment, considering they were arranged in 2 columns of 3.

“- I’m not even going to question the logic behind this… I guess Willy Wonka should’ve patented his “Wonkavator””

 

No… there was no button for “Up and Out” either.

Brainz had already checked for one.

 

* **[3R]***

 

He pressed button, it gave a cheerful jingle and lit up: the doors slid shut. As the lift whirred and ascended, Brainz slumped against one of the walls and sighed, muttering to himself in one empty breath. 

**_“don’t think about the unspeakable horror you unleashed, just focus on leaving, killing Asgore, and *leaving* with Flowey: you’ll have all the time in the world to feel like shit, later.”_ **

 

The car stopped along with the whirring, and in the brief silence before the doors opened: he heard a sound from behind them. A conversation between two male voices… he already knew it was trouble, mouthing his reaction to it.

“ _Fuck!”_

 

The doors opened, the warmth filled the claustrophobic room along with the light: Brainz pressed himself right against a wall behind the frame as tight as he could go to avoid being seen.

 

The conversation continued though, as if the arrival of the elevator was unnoticed, he overheard.

“ _..._ like dude, we’re gonna get in trouble! If Undyne finds out we abandoned our post to grab a snack, she’s gonna make us _Spar_ her again! I’m still sore from _last_ time!”

 

A more, laid back voice answered, trying to sound cool and assuring

“She ain’t gonna _find out,_ bro… we’re _in_ and _out:_ we’ll head right back down, and she won’t be the wiser.”

* * *

 

“ **_Ｙｏｕ ｇｏｔ ｔｈａｔ ｇｏｄｄａｍｎ ｒｉｇｈｔ...”_ **

_“_ Who said that?!”

Who’s in here with me?!

What’s going _on?!_ ”

 

* * *

 

The first voice made a sound of indecision, he wanted to believe the second, but wasn’t quite there yet.

“Eeeuuhhh… I dunno, bro… like, what if he got past our spot?? He’d get to the elevators, and then he could go _anywhere dude.”_

 

Now the second voice became assertive, calming: but more firm.

“ **_Bro…_ ** just listen to yourself! Who’s the scariest person we know?”

 

Shyly.

“Undyne?”

 

“Exactly bro! There’s no _way_ that guy’s gonna get past her.”

 

There was still doubt in the first one’s voice, no longer concerned on petty things, but rational fears… ****

* * *

 

**_(Ｌｉｋｅ ｔｈｅ ｐｓｙｃｈｏｐａｔｈ ｌｕｒｋｉｎｇ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ  ｅｌｅｖａｔｏｒ ｎｅａｒｂｙ)_ **

 "Who the fuck is saying that?"

* * *

 

 

“Yeah? But… _like…_ you _saw_ her when she came to us, that _huge_ hole in her… sure she’s really tough for being able to just, shrug it off like she, like got a pebble in her boot… but like… this guy _did_ that to her… she even **_told_ ** us. ‘Watch out for the human covered in RED, he’s going to be heading this way soon… he’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.’”

 

There was no response from the second voice, perhaps the first one was more convincing to be nervous, regardless: he continued after a brief pause.

 

“I’m just saying dude… like… I’m a little scared, she said the guy was a real _psycho…_ that if we _did_ see him come by… that he-...”

 

The voice couldn’t finish his sentence it seemed… it took the other one a few moments to start his, he had a new tone in calming though: softly spoken… almost sweetly.

“... Don’t worry bro, whatever happens: I won't let _anything_ happen to you.”

 

The first voice seemed to relax, finally.

“Thanks dude, I like: promise I won’t let anything happen to you either.”

 

They shared some content noises, and then the second one spoke up: sounding more direct as if he’d turned towards Brainz.

“Oh hey, Bro: elevator’s here, let’s get back to our post.”

 

Brainz jolted, and in the instant: he made his move, pushing to the buttons as fast as he could, in the split moment: he got a good look at who the voices belonged to.

 

Two enormous goons, dressed head to toe in similar looking armors as their **Ｄｅｃｅａｓｅｄ** captain, at least twice as large as her: both weilding large and scary looking swords.

 

Brainz got to see which voice belonged to who, as the first voice jumped and pointed at him: startled.

“ **_Dude!_ ** Like, what the heck is _that?!_

 

Brainz frantically hammered one of the unlit buttons: pressing it rapidly in the futile hopes it would make the doors close faster.

“Bro, that looks like the _human!”_

 

The doors slid closed before they could act, Brainz pointed the gun right out though: adrenaline and heart pumping: expecting a sword to cleave right down the middle: forcing them open.

 

But that wasn’t how it played out, the elevator whirred as normal: he couldn't tell if it was descending or ascending, he was so ramped up.

“ _Cmoncmoncmoncmoncmoncmon!’_

 

He assaulted the unknown button another ten to twenty times as his attention never left the doors: they opened again, out onto the world once more: Brainz dove out of the elevator _immediately._ And turned his head from the ground to see the doors close behind him: the sound of whirring departing from where he was.

 

“Ohhhhh my _GOD,_ that was close… Jesus fucking Christ!”.

 

He went on with the belated reaction to what he saw, still on the ground.

“Man, **_FUCK_ ** those guys! I can’t _deal_ with that!”

 

Before he could curse them out, before he could even get a sense of where he was, he assumed they took the elevator to a random floor: and out of six possible choices… it was a big chance those doors would open up again.

 

“ _Shit!”_

Brainz scrambled to his feet and ran away, blind to his surroundings until an obstacle came up in the next room.

 

A table, donning a decorative cloth… with twice as many legs as a normal table. He wasn’t up for judging it, and he quickly maneuvered himself and his things under it.

 

He hid, just waiting to hear those doors open again, to see those lumbering things clad in armor: as seconds became minutes: Brainz began to dither in focus, noticing something besides the elevator across the way. Like the spider web residing under the table with him, five inches away from his face: with it's sole occupant coming to meet him.

 

[Brainz has Arachnophobia (Warning: Loud!)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPmdhdckeU8)

 

**44:51:09...**

**44:51:08...**

**44:51:07...**

**(...)**

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was fast!  
> ... and kind of short.
> 
> Hello!  
> Here we are, at the top of a fresh slate!  
> With the beginning of a new part, I would like to try to condone the story a bit differently,  
> Instead of imposing a quota on myself to meet the average word count per chapter (9498 Words),  
> I will close each chapter whenever I feel their focus has ran its course: instead of padding on more events to meet the quota.
> 
> I will hope that this makes it less strenuous and taxing for me to write.
> 
> This does NOT mean, that you are going to be getting less content.  
> In fact, I feel this will lead to even *more* content for you, with me being able to post these chapters at a better pace!
> 
> I will also try to give you more soundtracks and background ambiences to really make the mood for certain parts.
> 
> To recap, at the dawn of the second phase for this *interesting* adventure: I would like to try some new tactics that I feel would make the experience enjoyable for all of us.
> 
> *Mainly by serving you the story in *HUMAN SIZED* Bites, because I don't want you to choke: and it's not fun when I do, either... which I apologize for the long periods without uploads for anybody who is really invested into this.
> 
> Ok, I think I've taken enough of your time: thank you for scrolling down here, by the way!  
> If you have any comments or opinions on how the story is going to change: please *pretty please with sprinkles on top* let me know!
> 
> I wish you a lovely (not LOVE) Day!
> 
> -Dreems.


	2. .Alternative Solution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What a wonderful predicament you've gotten yourself into,  
> it's gonna take a real good plan to get you outta there.
> 
> Didn't think so...
> 
> It's OK, I don't like this plan anymore either. 
> 
> Ｉ ｌｉｋｅ ｔｈｉｓ ｎｅｗ ｏｎｅ ＭＵＣＨ ｂｅｔｔｅｒ!!

“Fucking _spiders!!!”_

Brainz was in such a hurry to get out from under the table that he’d smacked his head against its wooden belly, so in addition to furiously combing his fingers through his hair he was also rubbing his head where it hurt.

“I fucking- **_HATE. SPIDERS.”_ **

His entire body shook like gelatin in an earth tremor as he stood up: a greatly exaggerated shiver straightened it out as it traveled up to his head. He looked all over himself, checking every backside of every part of him for any creepy crawlies, thankfully he didn’t find any or else he would’ve been tempted to throw all of his clothes off proceeded by pulverizing them frantically. With a clean bill of “no-spiders” Brainz calmed down, stopping where he stood-

 

At least 3 meters away from the infested table.

 

-and slowing his heart down. He continued to rub at the aching part of his head: feeling the bump forming under his scalp. He wasn’t thrilled about it… still catching his breath-

 

“ _Hooah… Huuwh… Hahh…_

Of all the things they have down here- out of _everything_ in the _whole world_ they can take: they

_Heeihh…_

-had to have _fcking-_ **_spiders…_ ** _”_

 

Brainz shook his head at the table, ensuring it could see the contempt he had for its life choices, and he gave one more _disdainful_ sounding shiver, still on the thought.

“ _Eyyeuuuuahgh_ I hate this place _…”_

 

Now that this brief moment of terror was over, Brainz could focus on analyzing the _previous_ moment of terror that lead him here… although since the moment seemed to have passed: he didn’t allot it the same urgency from before, considering those elevator doors had gone dormant since he used them. But he had a bone to pick with that elevator…

“(what) The-hell was all _that_ about back there?”

 

His grievance wasn’t directed at the two armored monsters: he didn’t even know what they were supposed to be, but his fleeting introduction to them was all he needed to know: that they?... **Weren’t gonna happen,** no way in hell was he even going to try them.

What Brainz was more actively bothered by was the sort of “Peanut Gallery” that had joined him as he eavesdropped-

 

Sadly, he didn’t even intend to listen in for so long: but the fact that reaching the control panel would require him to move in plan view of the two beasts outside of the elevator… he was too intimidated to move until it meant life or death.

 

-on their relevant and somewhat wholesome conversation. He’d heard a voice that belonged to no-one, at least no one he or the two guards outside could see: whereas they didn’t even notice it. Brainz had a very firm understanding of _which_ voices he knew were the product of his mad mind… in doing so: he ensured that he wasn’t mad. But the one in there, sounded… _different._

 

Enough though, Brainz had better things to do right now.

“ _Right!_ Right… just gonna chalk it up from the too few marbles rolling around up there.”

 

He placed his two index fingers on his lips, hands folded together: and took a sharp breath to his nostrils: blowing it out through his mouth. It was unfortunate he came to terms with something the exact moment he did that gesture.

“ _Fuck!”_

 

Brainz looked up the elevator, and defining feature of it: as it flashed.

**L3.**

 

When the only floor defined on his escape plan was **R3:** he was in such a hurry when he made the plan, that it was made as flexible as fine lumber. Now there was no way in Hell Brainz was going to press the call button, the risk was way too high. That meant that _this,_ was a derailment.

 

He autonomously placed both of his hands onto his head and began to suffer the ensuing fit, going so far as to emit loud wheezes as his fingers curled painfully tight. But it abruptly shutdown, Brainz jolted to something else.

“Wait!...”

 

He held up one of his fingers to give his mind the visualization of pausing the meltdown… helping him come back to words.

“- ok ok… I _remember…_ and it’s also using logic: This and **R3** are on the straight floor… the whole place scrolls out from West to East, which-”

 

He utilized the map and where he originally intended to depart from, turning himself and holding out his arm towards the spider table’s path.

“- is _that_ way… so regardless of what’s ahead: it’s gonna be a **straight shot** to the next lift, so instead of making a **right,** from **R3... -”**

Another glimpse at the map, with gestures to go with him.

“- I’m gonna make a **LEFT,** into-”

He lost his momentum for just a moment, having to squint to read the chicken scratch he marked on **“Step 5”** he read it out loud, questioningly as he had trouble reading his own handwriting.

“- **M-T...T Resort?** Yeah, that’s it: then it’s through there to the **Core…”**

 

He went through it again to himself and sighed with relief, it made sense-

 

At least more sense than an elevator with 2 stops on the same floor.

 

-and his plan was intact. Although, this little incident also brought up another key flaw with the plan. Even though all the rooms were sketched out, the map and Brainz hadn’t accounted for what was actually _in_ the rooms. There was no overlooking that: he was still in a place that made no sense, and it was still infested with monsters… and Military… **_and spiders: especially spiders._ **

 

He just realized actually, that the room with the cursed table had _multiple_ spiderwebs tucked in the corners of the ceiling and under the floor. In fact, there were a couple just plain _ON_ the floor, and these ones were enormous. Thankfully for him, they were empty: and he had no intention of discovering the architects behind them.

“I swear to **_gawd…_ ** this may be some freakout land: but this is _still_ North America, and we _don’t_ get Australian sized spiders-”

 

He pointed at the revolting things.

“- **_Swear. To fucking. God.”_ **

 

He wasn’t swearing by anybody, at best he was vaguely asking for a sliver of mercy: for his claim to be factful.

 

Back to the scenery though, _besides_ the horrible webs: it was like he’d stepped into an entirely different universe.

* * *

[Another Medium (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/dNN0HyO3rM4)

 

The theme cast away the hazardous facade of rocks molten and solid, seemingly upgrading for a look of trim and artificial construction. Every semblance of uncut stone and rough earth had been replaced with panels of steel and iron reinforcements. The distant world outside of the path had gone back to a sense of infinite blackness, but scattered in the empty space were rows of flashing lights and illuminated cogwheels, turning and powering some unseen mechanism. It was as if the world wanted to match the aesthetics of the lab down below.

 

It certainly took Brainz somewhere else, with the look of puzzlement on his face.

“Did I step into a 80’s sci-fi flick or somethin? What’s with all the flashy lights, it looks ridiculous.”

 

He took one last look at the floor, now the edges were lined with indented power conduits and scrolling LED’s. It still wasn’t anything like guard rails, but it was something. Brainz wondered how many creatures met an untimely death from falling in this world, that this upgrade was deemed necessary. That… or the simpletons just liked pretty lights, that’s what it seemed this place was made for.

Onwards though, no sense in staying here any further, Brainz had to _make_ himself traverse through the room with spiderwebs. He covered his head with his hands and never took his eyes off the ones above, they weren’t gonna get the drop on him: no _siree._ Not in a million years, not even in hell. He scootched himself to the farthest point away from the floor webs, putting his health at risk: but paying off when he would rid himself of the sights.

Not before, just _having_ to see what a piece of paper placed atop the empty table had to say. Brainz didn’t want to stop to read it, instead he swiped it off in his motion; shaking it vigorously to throw off any would-be stowaways.

 

**_“Out to *lunch* fu-hu-hu_ **

**_Be back in a bite!”_ **

 

Well that didn’t provide much help, at least it meant one less monster to deal with, one with a bad sense of humor at that.

(...)

 

“Ohh, _what_ the fuuck? **Come** **_onn..”_ **

There was but nothing better to remind him that he was in a hurry: than a great big obstacle in his path, an entire room that would managed to; slow him down, put him through some form of exertion, force him to ignore the fifty or so questions it brought up, and even _KILL_ him if he messed up. This one did _all_ that!

 

 _“_ Why, just fucking _why??”_

The room opened up near indefinitely and formed another 4 way junction, with a choice per cardinal direction. That wouldn’t be an issue at all… if it wasn’t for the means of _reaching_ these places, Brainz had one way to describe it, shouting in appalled bewilderment, with his eyes wide open.

“It looks like a- demented game of **hopscotch!”**

 

A large grouping of equally sized platforms, all of them were suspended from each other: with the gaps reaching two… maybe even three feet long. With nary any bridge or established method to bridge them, you would be assumed to jump across!

To make matters worse, they had steam vents built into them: and from the visible clouds, they were pushing out one hell of a current, easily and _obviously_ to sway someone away from “Losing My Balance” to “Falling to my death”!

 

There was no cutting it off now, he _had_ to finish the idea: Brainz tilted himself to see over the luminous edge of the metal floor, he _expected_ to see an all consuming pool of lava eagerly awaiting the next person who didn’t make the jump… but _no:_ he couldn’t even _see_ the lava from below, he couldn’t see _anything_ over the edge… except some of the red glowing support beams that held this precarious place up.

“Holy shit, how high up _am I?..._

How fast did that elevator _go????_ I was in there for like two seconds….

**_HOW DEEP *IS* THIS PLACE?????”_ **

 

The astoundment was full blown, it couldn’t have grown any more: even when he looked up and failed to see a ceiling.

“Myyy freaking _gahd!_ This place just keeps getting **_*Better*_ ** and **_*Better*!_ ** When- will the **_*FUN*_ ** end?!... Where I end up walking out of **_Mars?!”_ **

Part of him dialed that piece of situational sarcasm back: genuinely hoping that that wouldn’t actually be the case… he was _actually_ afraid that would happen. Not concerning himself with _HOW_ it could happen, no no: he just assumed it _COULD_ happen, and left it at that.

 

Brainz slapped both of his stitched up cheeks and emptied his lungs out with the most exasperated sigh he’d ever made… an exasperated sigh for all the exasperated sighing he’d done down here.

There was a consolation to be given though, if he was having such a hell of a time traversing this geographical balderdash: Brainz, a single person. Imagine the kind of time the army was having, what they had to do in the face of all this insanity. Sure they had better equipment and training than him, but they had about a hundred men to funnel through this fun-house: it didn’t matter _how_ well disciplined and ordered they could’ve been: there was going to be confusion and delay… so Brainz may have had more time than he thought.

He felt a little better though, just from the thought of someone _else_ having a meltdown at the inherent bullshit of this place-

 

* * *

 

**Ｂｏｙ ｔｈｏｕｇｈ,**

**ｗｏｕｌｄｎ'ｔ ｉｔ ｈａｖｅ ｂｅｅｎ ｆｕｎｎｙ,**

**ｔｏ ｓｅｅ Ｕｎｄｙｎｅ ｔｒｙ ｈｅｒ ｓｈｉｔ ｗｉｔｈ ｔｗｅｎｔｙ ｌａｓｅｒ ｄｏｔｓ ｏｎ ｈｅｒ ｈｅａｄ? Ｆｉｓｈｙ Ｓｗｉｓｓ Ｃｈｅｅｓｅ!**

“I’m not fucking _saying_ that! What’s going on with me?”

* * *

Brainz shook his head enough to loosen some of his fillings.

“Just ignore it… and get on with your work.”

 

He cautiously approached the edge of the path: just brushing against the fast paced clouds and pulling back and rubbing the limb that did.

“ _Whoa-oow,_ that’s hot! _Phoo…_

Must be some kind of exhaust from down below.”

 

Speaking of: it seemed the massive distance from the searing lakes below had an effect on the climate. While it was still really hot: it wasn’t _as_ insufferable to the point he was worried he’d burst into flame.

 

Brainz was able to tilt himself in a way to see something peculiar about the vent though.-

What, besides the fact it existed

-Just under the grating was a large, even _flashing_ arrow: denoting the direction the blower was pointing the steam… which was right towards the gap.

 

His eyebrows lowered back to their normal, tolerating the disappointment, state.

“Wonderful…”

And looking across, on the adjacent platform, it looked like the closest vent there was blowing _towards_ him, ensuring anything blown that way would be pushed back: presumably into the gap.

“Just fucking wonderful…”

 

He’d have to stay clear of them, which just gave him less space to work with. By all means though, jumping the gaps wouldn’t be _too_ hard: not at all actually. But Brainz couldn’t help rubbing his mended knee, while he could barely even feel what was wrong with it: he was still nervous about putting so much stress on it. Afraid that the moment he landed and all of his weight pressed down, that the bone would pop right out from his flesh and he’d have quite a long and agonizing fall before he would be vaporized by the lava below.

 

“But-chu’know… is not like I have a fucking _choice_ in the matter… so… _fuck it_ I guess.”

 

He limbered up and practiced bending and straightening his legs by slowly squatting down. At the most, he could feel some slight discomfort and tightness in there: but nothing like ripping or hearing his patch job giving away. Thank god for narcotics. He moved back for a running start and went for it.

“ _Huu-OOf!”_

The first jump was successful! Brainz partially fell over, but he caught himself with his arms and landed on all fours: just a foot or two from the edge of _this_ platform. He brushed himself off and stood up.

“Mmmmh, that wasn’t so bad… maybe not so much though: don’t got much room for error here.”

 

He prepared for the second jump, minding the pair of  vents that would try to push him off: he looked ahead.

“What-oo we got… _four…_ maybe **five** jumps? I can do that, easy.

 

 _Hhh-uhp! -_ _Hhhgah..”_

 

Jump number two was done, with a slightly better landing that the first time.

 

“Y’know though… I, _Hmmfh- mmmph!"_ **** **(Jump number three)**

 **“** -really wonder if this is how they _seriously, Hhyeup- ”_ **_(Number four)_ **

 

“- _Gheh!..._ if this is how they actually get around without the elevators, cuz I mean like- this isn’t just _dangerous_ It’s just plain **_stupid!..._ **  Oh boy… this one’s gonna suck.”

 

There was one more platform he’d needed to leap onto and off before getting to the end of the trial, but it had a catch. There were outwardly pushing exhaust vents on all four sides of it, Brainz would have just the corner to land on: no space for compensation.

 

He took a moment to psyche himself up for this one, really flexing all of his joints: he wasn’t going to go for a running leap this time.

“Gonna do a standing long jump here, should do it: gotta do it _right_ though.”

 

He edged himself as far forward as he could, the tips of his boots were almost pushing into the gap, Brainz went into a crouch and swung his arms in a pendular motion. He counted with the swings.

“1… 2… **3…** ”

 

He aborted the jump though-

“Wait wait wait a sec-”

And removed his bag and jacket from his shoulders: he didn’t want to risk with the extra weight on his back, so he tied the sleeves around one of the bag’s handles and balled it up. Then he swung his arms again, this time with the weight of his things driving the momentum. On the 4th swing, he tossed the bag as far as he could: no intention of it making the platform, but instead to soar clear over it and onto the actual ground behind it.

 

It _just_ made it, his heart nearly stopped when it launched into a spin from catching one of the currents below: but it tumbled to a halt just across him.

“ _Phew…_ now for the chaser..”

 

He prepped _himself_ for the jump and with his last encouraging words, hoping no to be his _last_ -

“Don’t fuck up.”

-he leapt across.

 

“Wh- **_whoa- WHOA, Ye-hEAGH!!_ **

**_AAhh!! AHh! Ahhh!-”_ **

 

It didn’t go quite as well as he’d hoped: the jump was fine, it was the landing that could’ve been better.

One of Brainz’s feet missed the edge by just an inch: while the other went a little too far forward. He slipped and when his arms were thrown out in a desperate bid for traction: his right one touched down onto the blanching hot metal of the grate. It made him do a kind of scramble, like a frenzied insect dancing on a surface, his legs were splayed out and hanging over the edge, just trying to convince him to follow through with falling. But his lower half didn’t win the dispute and Brainz managed to pull himself onto the ground, reeling in from the small shot of adrenaline with panting.

 

“-Hooh… _hoo… haahh… ohhh_ shit, that hurt. Ooo man…”

Perhaps one of the most belated “apt” comments he’d make in his life happened-

“-I’m getting too old for this shit.”

 

-but then it was back to dealing with the “now” he held up the more unfortunate hand to see what all the burning pain was about: and he scoffed near defeatedly.

“ _Great,_ now I’m gonna have **grill marks** on my hand, because that’s what I need.”

 

At least it wasn’t the same hand with the cut on it… or maybe that was bad thing, because now both of his hands were going to hurt… and _itch.-_

 

Perhaps something that hadn’t been fully realized: sure all of his injuries hurt and bled, he was more than used to being in constant pain and fear for his life… but above all: they **_ITCHED._ ** And _boy_ did they itch… the only thing that could even _relate_ to the drug craving was his temptation to scratch until he had no skin left to lacerate. The bandages were a blessing and a curse: not only did they cover him up but they made it significantly harder to scratch. Part of the reason his existing scars looked so _bad_ was because he couldn’t stop picking at them when they were still healing.

But applying to everything happening now, there was seldom a moment without action where Brainz _wasn’t_ scratching at something, before something else would drive him crazy and force him to move to that...  _itching..._ flaking, dryness....

 

But anywho…

 

-at least he made it: and the jump to finish the obstacle course wasn’t too bad either: he reoriented himself with his things and went to shrug off this particularly stupid part of his life.

* * *

 

“Oh no…”

 

There was a rather immensely sized pair of doors blocking his way: comprised of iron and covered in all sorts of lights and indicators: which with his “heightened” sense of color,  he could easily see they were all **_RED._ ** Which on any machine or equipment usually meant…

“It’s locked… _no_ no… I need this to _not_ be locked.”

 

He wasn’t going to panic just yet, even though if he couldn’t get this cursed door open: it would mean he’d be forced to go back to the elevator, almost certainly falling into a trap or being spotted by someone. _No no,_ there was _NO_ need to panic yet. Absolutely NO need to panic whatsoever, **_HE REALLY DIDN’T NEED THE ADDED STRESS ON TOP OF IT: SO PANICKING WASN’T A GOOD IDEA-”_ **

* * *

 

**_Ｙｏｕ ｓｕｒｅ ａｂｏｕｔ ｔｈａｔ?_ **

**_Ｓｏｕｎｄｓ ｌｉｋｅ ｆｕｎ ｔｏ ｍｅ,_ **

**_ｙｏｕ ｓｈｏｕｌｄ ｔｒｙ ｉｔ:_ **

**_ｊｕｓｔ ｔｏ ｓｅｅ ｗｈａｔ ｉｔ ｌｏｏｋｓ ｌｉｋｅ!_ **

* * *

 

“-Holy _shit,_ just **_shut the fuck UP_ ** already!!”

He rolled his eyes, exasperated at himself-

 

He thinks?

 

-he had to press on his temple to keep it from aching, shaking his head slowly at himself.

“ _Man…_ I can’t hear myself _think,_ why else do you think I talk to myself so much??

God _damn…”_

  
Well that was weird.

 

“ _Alright_ tho… lets try brute force…”

 

He placed his bag on the ground and opened it up, bringing out one crowbar: ready for its first job. Brainz forced the teeth at the end of the swan’s neck between the large doors. He began trying to push all of his weight into the bar: digging his good heel into the ground for some more leverage. Some long and strenuous grunts and shifted positions later… and the door wouldn’t budge.

 

He tried one more go, pressing his back into the bar and kicking his feet as he tried in vain to move it. He was able to make the gap between the doors open to two inches or so, but it refused to move anymore, locked.

 

“ _GHugh!..._ it’s no use…”

 

The crowbar was freed and it clattered to the ground, like a bell to signify his failure.

 

Brainz put it away and inspected the blockade, he noticed a shape peering from the unusually dark spot atop the doors: he retrieved another tool from his bag and gave the maglight a moment to shine.

“A-ha… gotcha now..”

 

Clever lighting tricks hid a collection of gears, cogs and wires corresponding to the doors… a further inspection discovered a wire running out from the left side, Brainz was able to trail it back to the “Demented Hopscotch Room” where he could see it traveling below the platforms and down the north way.

“Hmm…”

 

He put the flashlight away and walked back to the edge of the ground, the very place he’d risked his life to get to. A hand was placed under his chin.

“Electronically sealed… with a potential switch in a different location… unsure if it’s accounting for power outages… _if those can even happen…_ don’t know if it needs power to _close_ or to _open…_ cutting the wire is out of the question.”

 

Long story short?

It meant Brainz had to go back to his game of precarious platforming.

“Of fucking course… _why_ did I think anything else?”

 

This time though, he left his bag and coat behind on the ledge: it seemed unlikely anybody was going to come this way, or the hassle and risk from toting it around was enough to overshadow the paranoid obsessions. The only thing he took from it was the crowbar… just in case.

 

To cut his trip short: he leapt his way up to the north path in a total of six jumps, at least eighteen expletives under his breath, but no further incidents. On the last landing as he brushed himself off again,

“ _There…_ Christ, gonna be just as annoying on the way back… but on I go.”

 

He proceeded upwards and the auxiliary path lead to a rather ostentatious looking entrance to a different room. For something as important as handling a door like _that,_ surely it deserved such a grand looking facade. Brainz had no idea anymore if he was being sarcastic, he was feeling numb from all the begrudged jumping.

 

He proceeded inside, lightly batting his crowbar in his hand: his gun stirred nervously in his pocket.

He walked into a surprisingly small room, outfitted with a small screen, a gigantic one that took up the entire wall… and someone screaming at him.

* * *

 

It was a _terrified_ scream, and it wasn’t too long: being made out of hapless surprise… ironically: it was like a call, because Brainz made the exact same noise; jumping into the air. Although his sounded considerably less _feminine._

 

Being carried by the momentary lapse of terror, Brainz immediately procured his handgun and pointed it at the source of the sound, sliding himself into the opposite corner of the room. He found his target near the same instant he pointed the gun: it couldn’t have been _easier_ to spot.

 

“D-on’t hurt me! _PLEASE!!”_

It spoke, a young sounding voice: not quite belonging to a child, but with ways to go before it was mature. It was crouched against the other corner of the room, emitting a constant whimpering sound to go with its scream and plea… and it could have been shielding its face from him: but he couldn’t tell… because it was made of fire.

 

A monster made of fire… where had he seen that before? He couldn’t be bothered to recall fully: but he knew he’d seen one before… a _different_ one at that. He knew that one didn’t look _green,_ and it certainly wasn’t wearing that bizarre looking uniform… or was it? He was sure it wasn’t a girl either, but then again: when did he have to gender **fire??**

 

So because he was still processing this before it spoke: he didn’t quite catch what it… _she?_ She. He didn’t hear what she said.

 **“** **_What?”_ **

 

The sentient flames repeated her plea immediately.

“ _Please,_ don’t hurt me!! I don’t wanna DIE! Please, Please-”

 

She trailed off, sounding more hysterical and less comprehensible as she continued wailing at him. He sneered and raised a brow. Brainz wanted her to stop: but the fact he still had the gun out wasn’t helping… oblivious to this though: he tried to be casual.

“Just chill for a-”

 

The terrified ramblings took no notice, Brainz tried to be a little louder and assertive.

“ _RELAX,_ just **stop** for five second-”

 

“ **_SHUT UUUP!”_ **

That worked, leaving the marvel of nature to cower nearly silently in the corner: suddenly open for directions.

 

“ _Now…”_

He began his sentence with a sinister tone, but as he took another breath to calm down: he finished it, trying to sound much more reasonable now that he didn’t have to yell.

“- what, are you going on about, you scared the freaking crap outta me and I nearly shot ya. Screaming like that. What the hell’s the matter?”

 

The green flames hesitated to answer him, she stared at him for a good moment: perhaps direly looking for any sign of body language or evidence he wasn’t done talking: lest she interrupt him.

“I…”

She had trouble materializing words from how intimidated she was, Brainz could somehow tell by the way her flames were burning that she was nearly petrified with fear. But she managed to speak in a quavering voice.

“- please… just, _please_ don’t hurt me- _please._ I’ll do whatever you want: just _please…”_

 

He hadn’t seen submission like this for _years,_ and seeing it with such a look of terror for him… **it was** **_way_ ** **too soon for that** and the fact that this monster _assumed_ he was going to kill her, the moment she got a look at him… he didn’t even _do_ anything yet. Well that just tore it.

 

That hurt a little more than it should’ve, and his temper spilled over.

 

Brainz’s look soured at her and he flared his nostrils.

“You think…”

And he pointed at himself.

“- that I’m some kind of _killer?-”_

 

A lone, incredulous chuckle.

“-that I want to _hurt_ you? Is that what you think?”

She didn’t answer this time, but her shaking only worsened with the thought that she’d somehow upset him.

Brainz exhaled with another puff of cynical amusement… just accepting the fact.

“Well then, I guess my **reputation** precedes me, now isn’t that right?”

 

But he kept going, into painfully specific details, laying them out to put more stress on the terrified thing.

“- that I’m just a **_sadist._ ** Going around and **_k i l l i n g  p e o p l e…._ ** Just for the **_fun_ ** in it? Is that what you think of me? That I’m just a _monster?”_

 

He’d trained his eyes onto her and refused to move them off, the green flames had lowered her pseudo-arms, letting Brainz see two basic looking eyes quivering at him. Then he noticed that she began to shake: her head making shallow movements… the most skittish and passive ways to say.

“No?…”

 

“ **_BULLSHIT!”_ **

He made a vehement outburst, stomping his feet into the ground and earning another petrified shriek, as the monster hid back behind her “arms” whimpering more… nearly incoherent whispers.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I’m sorry-”

 

“ **_What?!”_ **

He loudly demanded for her to speak up, again: getting another startled noise from her, followed by sob laced words.

“I’m _sorry!_ I thought you with _them,_ I’m sorry, I’m sorr-ree-he-yyy!!”

 

She devolved into full wailing… of which Brainz still didn’t pick up on her distress: he was blind to it… as well as what she’d just said. It was nonsense, and it only made him angrier despite her attempts not to enrage him.

“ _Them?_ The _fuck_ are you **_talking about?!?!_ ** I’m not with _ANYBODY-”_

He could hear more desperate apologies mixed with her sobs, but he didn’t accept the hasted apologies one bit, not even considering the traumatized nature of this… what could’ve been a teenager. Instead, he went off on his little tangent. Breaking his horrifying gaze on her, he’d stopped pointing the gun too… he sounded more irritated than anything.

 

“- I just wanna get the fuck _OUTTA here!_ I don’t want _anything_ to DO with you fucks! The **_only_ ** ones I _did,_ they had it coming!! I just merely **_DEFENDED_ ** myself, and you all look at me like **_I’M_ ** the one attacking for no reason!-”

 

He loudly buzzed his lips, spraying saliva into the air as well as his feelings towards this.

“-you’re fucking _crazy…_ like I don’t think it’s even personal anymore...  you’re all just _nuts_ … like worse than _ME…_ I hear voices in my head: and I’m still better off than yous…”

Okay, this next part was a _little_ sadistic: he scoffed and said something that wasn’t necessary.

“-you’re lucky they’re not telling me to kill you right now.”

 

She yelped and seemed to go to her knees, clasping both of her hands? Together, taking what he said absolutely seriously.

“No! _PLEASE, please-please_ don’t-”

 

Brainz just rolled his eyes and sighed with exasperation, the small fit she’d triggered in him was beginning to subside… he didn’t want to torture the thing: just to activate the door… and leave. He could’ve done without the drama… but here he was, beginning to feel like a huge asshole and with a good handful of minutes wasted.

“Whatever… you can have your little freakout or whatever: long as you don’t give me any shit, I’m actually really easy to please… apparently not _that_ easy though from what I seen outta yous.”

 

With that _finally_ out of the way, the potential liability too scared to move: Brainz turned his attention towards the screen facing him to reroute the power.

 

“...”

 

“... …”

 

He turned back to the monster, clicking his tongue and exhaling.

“Ok, what is this?…”

 

His hand was gestured toward the screen and his expression was quite bitter and unamused, he waited to see if the monster was going to cooperate with him at _all…_ when she didn’t seem to budge from her terror, he prodded just a bit: already disinterested.

“You wanna tell me what this _is_ at least? That’d probably make me happy.”

 

She seemed to recognize a sort of, arrangement being proposed: the hopeful thought when facing a kidnapper that they would hold up their end of the bargain you never proposed to them. Give him what he wants, and he’ll go away… so she tried… in a feeble burble.

“It’s.. uhm. It’s a(puzzle)?..."

 

He really tried to catch that: he didn’t want to make her repeat herself, and he felt like asking for her to repeat that, but he was still weaning from the agitation… so this came out.

“ **_What?”_ **

 

He wasn’t even trying to be intimidating, yet he made her ball back up into a sorry, sobbing mess, he wasn’t going to get anywhere like this: not with her. It couldn’t have been more of an inconvenience for him if he didn’t recognize what it felt like to be so mind numbingly terrified of a person… how helpless you felt in their presence. It was a feeling he wouldn’t dream wish on _anyone…_ almost everyone.

But even though this creature belonged to the same place as the “shitters” she didn’t have to necessarily be one… keep in mind, he had no idea what they believed about humans… let alone what was already circling about _him…_ he knew it wasn’t good. Enough that his mere presence inflicted this on a young girl.

 

No matter how insignificant and petty this was going to be…  


He took a deep breath through his nose and let it out with a gentle blow.

“ _Alright.”_

 

He’d put his gun away, and placed the crowbar on the floor without so much as a clang, he neared the sacred thing by only a foot so she didn’t have to feel more cornered, the worst thing to do would’ve been to approach her, he was close enough already… and he crouched down, despite the stress on his knee, you didn’t want to remind or show that you were bigger or towered over them.

 

“Look… we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot here I think…”

 

She didn’t seem to take notice, he _had_ to get her attention though, but without unintentionally discovering if living flames could suffer heart attacks. So he started by whispering.

“Hey…”

 

When this and subsequent requests didn’t seem to get through, he was forced to raise his voice back to nearly demanding.

“ **_Hey…_ ** **”**

 

It got a reaction, she seemed to snap out of herself: and into another tier of panic when she noticed he was directly addressing her again. Brainz tried to stop it right away, quickly but calmly… holding both of his hands, palms out.

“No no-no-no-no-no-nuh-nuh-nunu no… _shhhhh-shh-shh-shush-shush-shuussh-.”_

 

His finger stood erect in front of his lips. He shushed her forcefully enough to overpower the panicked noises, but not enough to look aggressive. As her defensive responses died down, so did he. When she stopped, and just stared at him while hyperventilating, Brainz moved his opened palms to and fro, a passive gesture.

“ _Easy…_ easy… just take it easy… can you do that for me?”

 

He wasn’t expecting an answer yet, but he wasn’t done himself, he kept his facial expressions open and non judgemental… and his voice: very placid, just low enough to not rasp. He couldn’t do anything about how he looked, looks were assuming… and he wasn’t exactly a good enough person on the inside to counter that. But at least he could try to _act_ like he was.

 

So he kept his hands out right where she could see them, and only turned away from her enough she could see the crowbar on the ground, away from him. He even kicked it away. The gun stayed in his pocket though, it was a contingency.

“ _See?_ I don’t got nothin… I got _no_ absolute desire to lay a finger on you-”

 

Well of _course_ he didn’t, she’s made of fire… but not important.

 

“- I just wanna talk Okay? _Talk_ … nothing else, nooo nothing: alright? Just… _talk-_ you think we can do that? I don’t wanna do anything to ya. I promise.”

 

Brainz hated promises...  he hated _making_ them… only because they were lies he never intended to tell. But when he could make them, and be damn _sure_ about it… he always took the opportunity. It reminded him why people still _made_ promises… when he was _actually_ a person. He was trying to be a person again, or at least  _mimic_ a person.

If anything though, he was talking down to someone young: the lightness to her voice, those clothes, it just hit him in a way… he immediately regretted how he acted and wished he could take it back. But he couldn’t… he couldn’t take _anything_ back.

 

“Just… take it easy: can you do that?”

 

He watched her as she seemed to process everything, Brainz sat there with his passive appearance and worked on controlling his breathing, keep himself from making too much noise. When the silence between them reached a minute, Brainz let out the culmination of his shallow breaths with a long exhale. Considering all he’d inflicted on this poor soul so far, it was a long shot to believe she would open up to him now. He took his gaze away from the flames and got up to his feet, just about ready to leave… but not without one more, candid remark.

“I’m sorry.”

 

It was the least he could do, he couldn’t get out of there yet: not without figuring the screen out for himself. Leaving her be would be the second consolation he’d given her. He just let her be and went back to his business.

 

“Looks like a Galaga cabinet.”

He thought to himself.

 

The bizarre GUI depicted two primitive looking “spaceships” facing each other across a field of boxes, the large screen above showed the same thing: only blown up, considering the size of the room; it made no sense. There were no visible controls or input devices, so Brainz assumed it was operated by touch which he-

 

“It’s a puzzle…”

She spoke up out of the blue, taking his attention away from the screen. He said nothing himself, and only looked to her with his own puzzlement. The flame girl seemed to outgrow all of the terror and shaking: now she just seemed tired.

“You’re supposed to shoot the other ship, move the boxes out of the way, because you only have one shot…”

 

He glimpsed back at the “puzzle” and back to her.

“Oh.”

 

Then he swallowed and moved his lips around some.

“I see.”

 

But then came the real stretch of a question, she’d surprised him enough already, and asking this was going to push. But he tried to ask without any prejudice coming through.

“Do you think you can solve it?”

 

He sure as hell knew he couldn’t, higher thinking and intricate problem solving was never his thing, even if had the time to sit down and read newspapers: the puzzles on the back would always go untouched.

 

Brainz looked anxiously at her, with his hands clenching and opening up.

 

She shook her head in a saturnine way.

“No… I’ve never been good at puzzles.”

 

Direct and joyless, like her emotions had fried and shut down. She didn’t sound like she desperately wanted him to believe that, really it was he would believe her or he wouldn't.

 

But he did though… Brainz took her words at their face value, and was unwilling to pry any further, he’d already done enough. So he nodded slowly at her and wet his lips.

“OK.”

 

Then he turned away from the puzzle and bent down to retrieve his crowbar, the flames took notice and trained her eyes on the thing, perhaps anticipating something. No hyperventilating or crying though, just silence. Brainz took one last look at her. Her expression looked just wracked with puzzlement, this man had given her a reason to be scared beyond reason, backtracked and tried for a do-over, and now he was just going to go. He'd really no idea how bad guys were supposed to be, did he?

“I’m going to go now… _bye._ ”

 

He walked away without even trying the puzzle, both parties would’ve been better off if this interaction never happened. The girl didn’t return his farewell. When he departed from the little room, he’d a small desire to go back and keep talking to her, just to warn her of what was going to happen, he never turned back. He just couldn’t think of putting her through anymore, that and his departing statement would have been made into a lie.

 

The way back to the sealed doors wasn’t any more strenuous than the first one, Brainz was quickly getting used to that last jump. He grabbed his things that he’d left behind and approached the large entrance again.

 

A puzzle… this was all a puzzle, the hazardly stupid room dedicated to grand inconvenience and risk of death. Down to the only way to proceed, beyond unorthodox and to Brainz, beyond him. Flowey had told him about these, these puzzles... -

 

Brainz had tried to call out for him again, but still without luck: considering the creature he knew was in the same area with him: it would’ve been a long shot. This flower ran away from a ghost that could’ve been self conscious about his own shadow, where Brainz fended him off with nothing but harsh language.

 

-and he’d dealt with them before: those large  "bridging flowers". There was just one more thing about these puzzles though, something that occurred to him: assisting in his decision to just up and leave the room without even trying to solve this one. **Brainz cheated.**

 

He consulted his inventory and pulled out two slender, plastic tubes: he began twisting their fuses together. They had little black notches dotted onto them: spaced apart very methodically. Each dot represented a second, a second it would take the spark to climb down the wire and into the pipe bomb.

“Twelve on both of you…”

 

His declaration of “brute force” just earlier didn’t mean anything… not when he had a bag full of explosives. If anything, the grenade in his pocket would’ve fit the term excellently, but that had been reserved already. A pair of pipe bombs would do just as fine, and these were _REAL_ pipe bombs. Not some high school “under the sink” chemical firecrackers. Brainz remembered that these were made with **_real_ ** explosives, military grade demolitions. The two particular bombs were barren of shrapnel mods taped to the outside because Brainz knew the explosion would’ve been enough. Enough to obliterate any mother loving bastard unlucky enough to be near them… and enough to bust this fucking door open.

 

Now Brainz wasn’t exactly cavalier on his decision to use military grade explosives inside of a cave, with how open and spacious this place was: and a lack of support columns in the general vicinity… he put the danger of causing a cave in as a write off.

 

Brainz reunited the crowbar with the crease down the middle of the doors and wrenched them into giving the two inches down the middle: while leaning his weight into the bar, he shoved the conjoined explosives into the gap he made. He was worried that the pressure to close would splinter the plastic tubes, seeing the mechanism was atop of the door: he placed them rather low to floor where the force wasn’t as high. He removed the crowbar, the bombs held; and his lighter brought the fuses to life.

 

Brainz hurried away and hobbled around the corner: he cupped his ears and waited. When it went off, he felt the bass from the blast shaking his insides. When he took his hands off his ears, the sound of the explosion still carried and echoed down the air. That green girl most definitely heard that.

 

He crept back to see the results, when the smoke cleared: they were… _mediocre_ at best. The doors were still barring access for the most part, but they had suffered severe damage from the blast, with bits and pieces of metal thrown yards in front of the door. A large scorch mark covered the bottom half of the doors as well as a yard on the ground before them. It seemed the outermost metal plating had been sheared off, revealing the insides of the doors… there was now an eight inch gap between them as well. He wasn’t discouraged one bit… in fact: he only saw this as progress.

“Made a pilot hole, if anything.”

 

He pressed his foot inside of the fissure, feeling presumably the plating on the other side of the door beginning to bend and give.

“Definitely loosened it up…”

 

He went back to his things and brought out another pair of explosives, less practical than pipe bombs: but more powerful. Two half-sticks of dynamite, when put together, they equalled one full stick and all of its destructive power. They were still stuck with varying cords and triggers: their intended use was to booby trap doors, the fuses were twice as long as the pipe bombs: this wasn’t an oversight. Designed for SWAT teams to creep in through the door, where it would wait for the lot of them to pile in before splattering bits of them in a fifty yard radius. He broke off the trap bits and again tied the fuses together, he was able to snugly insert them inside of the doors.

 

Brainz didn’t even feel bad about having to use more explosives for the job, it wasn’t like he was going to have a moment to prepare the TNT as a trap, and in a scrap: those fuses could’ve went for a full twenty seconds before going off: either he’d have to become good at counting time in his head on the spot, or hope he got lucky. You really couldn’t do the latter of the two when playing with Trinitrotoluene.

 

In this scenario though: he just wanted to blow something up. It was one of the “little joys” he could partake in.

 

The fuses were lit, and he booked it out of there. When he rounded his corner again: as the seconds went by, he almost wanted to peek around just so he could see the explosion, he didn’t believe in the trend that “cool guys walk away from explosions” if he knew something was going to blow up, he wanted to see. He ultimately _didn’t_ though in the end… and would discover it was for a good reason. 

 

_**"KA-BLAMN!!!"** _

He forgot to cover his ears with this one.

 

 _This_ explosion was far louder than the first and it made the entire platform shake from the shockwave. The cloud of debris from the blast reached all the way to Brainz, he saw it shooting past the corner, with little glimmers flying past… metal shrapnel. And after his ears stopping ringing enough to hear again, he would hear the sounds of tiny debris raining back down to his floor. When he peered around his protective corner _again…_ the darker and heavier smoke cleared and he was met with what he’d created.

 

Unfortunately, the doors were still standing, even an explosion with that magnitude didn’t destroy them… it _did_ however make them a whole lot worse at their job of keeping Brainz out as the blast blew a large hole in the bottom part of the doors. Easily large enough for him to crawl under.

 

Brainz made a fist with his hand and pulled it towards him in celebratory fashion. A devious smile formed on his face.

“Fuckin _A_.”

 

He grabbed his things and made for the opened path, taking caution at the debris he could’ve slipped on. He was especially weary of the exposed wires and components brought out: they sparked and small wisps of smoke rose from them, it was worthwhile to note that the mocking red lights fitted to the door had now gone dim. Appropriate because this door wasn’t blocking _anyone_ now… anyone who wasn’t too much bigger than Brainz.

* * *

 

**“Ｓｏｍｅｂｏｄｙ ｌｉｋｅ ｍｅ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｈａｖｅ ｔｒｏｕｂｌｅ ｗｉｔｈ ｔｈａｔ,**

**ｂｕｔ ｙｏｕ ｐｒｏｂａｂｌｙ ｄｏｎ'ｔ ｃａｒｅ, ｄｏ ｙｏｕ?”**

* * *

 

“I’m not _hearing_ this…”

 

But at last… he stood up from the small crater he’d created and found himself on the other side, giving himself a content sigh and finally proceeding. He did stop after taking a few steps, and shortly after, he turned around. He almost had the urge to go back and inform the girl that he’d opened the door… assuming she had wanted to get this way too… but he didn’t. He didn’t want her to follow him, nor look up to him… he just couldn’t take that chance.

 

“Moving on.”

 

But something was wrong, the area took an immediate turn in scenery: with the omnipresent brightness of the technological looking world abandoning it. No more flashy LEDS, or glowing cogs off in the distance… Brain suddenly felt very claustrophobic. He’d gotten used to the soulless corridors, then to the large open spaces: this one was no exception to the first, but something was _wrong._

 

In the new dimness, a simple open doorway awaited him: the inside was a wash of blackness… the feeling from the lab came back: Brainz did not want to go in there. But this time… he had a flashlight to convince himself that he was just being paranoid: to put his fears to-

 

He gasped in horror and nearly dropped it.

 

There were cobwebs… there were cobwebs _everywhere._

There was nothing but cobwebs.

  
[Staring into your worst nightmare. (Soundtrack)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf6WCY1Tps4)

**44:19:07...**

**44:19:06...**

**44:19:05...**

**(...)**

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. .Inherent Fear Reaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tʜᴇ ɪᴛꜱʏ ʙɪᴛꜱʏ ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ᴄʀᴀᴡʟᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴘᴏᴜᴛ,  
> ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴀɪɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀꜱʜᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ᴏᴜᴛ!  
> Oᴜᴛ ᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴜɴ ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ ᴅʀɪᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴀɪɴ,  
> ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ɪᴛꜱʏ ʙɪᴛꜱʏ ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ᴄʟɪᴍʙᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴘᴏᴜᴛ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ.
> 
> Ｃｈｏｏｓｅ ｔｈｅ ｌｅｓｓｅｒ ｏｆ ｔｗｏ ｅｖｉｌｓ, ｄｏｎ'ｔ ｗｏｒｒｙ:  
> Ｉ ｋｎｏｗ ｓｏｍｅ ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓ ｗｈｏ'ｄ ｌｅｎｄ ｙｏｕ ａ ｈａｎｄ:  
> ｔｈｅｙ'ｖｅ ｇｏｔ *ｐｌｅｎｔｙ* ｔｏ ｓｐａｒｅ

Brainz just finished his third jump across the platforms and was rearing for the fourth.

“Nope.”

 

No prejudice or meditation, he just decided to see what awaited him down the southernmost path.

“ _Nnope.”_

 

It just occurred to him is all, he may as well explore every choice: just in case he’d find something of interest, he  _had_ time to spare.

“Not in a million years.”

 

He landed and recovered from the last jump with his things weighing down his back, there was no need to leave them back there: being he had “abso-fucking-lutely” no intention of going back that way, but something else occurred to him as he brushed himself off.

“ _See…_ there was a reason that door was there!  _Yeaah…_ I’d put a reinforced fucking blast door there too, cept I would actually use it  _properly,_ and douse that entire place with napalm…”

 

Brainz didn’t keep up with the pleasant idea, some reality fell into the mix and it made him shudder to the core. He cursed it out under his breath before moving on.

“-fucking spiders…  _had_ to be spiders... -”

 

Then he sighed and brought his voice back, looking forward and proceeding: trying very hard not to think about what he saw.

“-  _Well then!_ Least I know that’s the  ** _wrong_** way to go!”

 

He hoped.

 

“Ahhh… see, look at  _all this:_ this is clearly the way to go!”

 

Even though he was facing south with a desire to go east, the left turn in the path would bring him back in the right direction. A large and two way “people mover” would take him there. But this was _definitely_ the way to go, he just had to look at it. It had everything, the flashy and flaunted design, lots of exposed gears and cogwheels, and even an out of place cactus growing just besides the belt!

“Mm _hmm,_ looks about right.”

 

One more thing attracted his purposefully deviated attention.

“But what’re  _these_ then?.... they kinda look like projectors.”

 

There were three of them, seemingly suspended in the air besides the conveyor belt, they weren’t doing anything except existing. But down here, that couldn’t have meant anything good.

“Cameras maybe?... nah, why would they put three of them in the same spot at the same angle, that’s a little too dull to be their brand of stupidity-”

 

Then he scoffed.

“Knowing this place, they’re probably lasers or some James Bond shit.”

 

Hey now, that wasn’t even too far fetched: not enough that he didn’t consider it: but lasers aside, this was a  _much_ more welcoming sight than… y’know.

 

Well, judging how low they were: Brainz deduced that if they turned on as he neared, he would jump over them: and with that, he approached the moving floor.

“Better be careful, that looks like it’s moving pretty fast… again, no guardrails.”

 

A small stumble and a tiny surprise.

“ _Whoa-_ these’re going  _real_ fast!-”

It barely gave him enough time to prepare for the inactive projectors, but even so: they failed to fulfill any of the precaution even as he crossed them. Brainz released some of the tension as he rode the belt.

“ _Oh…_ well that was dissapoi-”

 

He almost missed his stop and quickly hurried off.

“ _Jeez…_ but anyway, yeah… that was uneventful…”

 

Well, he was able to proceed without further incident: which was  _really_ nice, despite him not acknowledging it any, the last thing he’d do is take this for granted- especially after that small scare with the-

 

“ _I-eyyy…_ don’t like the look of this.”

His Déjà vu was acting up again as he approached a familiar looking entrance, to an even more familiar room: with screen and console to boot… and for  **good** reason too.

 

**_Shoot the opposing ship!_ **

**_Move the boxes to complete your mission._ **

“Oh,  _fuck._ ”

So he  _did_ actually see another set of wires coming out of the door, back when he crawled out of it… looking back for a memo or a sign saying something like.

 

 **_DO NOT_ ** **_EVER_ ** **_OPEN!_  ** **_  
_ ** **_FUCKING SPIDERS IN HERE!!!!_ **

 

He failed to find such a sign, but he thought he saw more cables coming out from the other side, of course with the door being open and him doing a complete 180* he didn’t think of it at the time, but now…

 

“Another fucking Galaga game, _and_ it's a dead end…”

 

* * *

 

Ｔｈｅｙ ｊｕｓｔ ｗａｎｔｅｄ ｔｏ ｓｅｅ ｙｏｕ ＳＵＦＦＥＲ.

* * *

 

[Options (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/3kltlJdurSg)

(It’s all good! I’m  _FINE)_

 

“Alright!... thiss isn’tah a probulem… n-nah, nah: S’a _lllll_ good! It’s fine,  _really_ it is!”

 

His lips were forced to convey a nervous grin, giving full view to his teeth as they chattered and ground against themselves. Brainz doubled back,  _again…_ and this time he went  _all_ the way back. He was getting quite good at making these jumps and saw no reason to delay or take his time,  _especially_ not when there was a hole full of spiders just one room over that could most likely pour out at  _ANY_ time! No reason for that whatsoever.

 

He emerged from the last jump and stumbled to a neurotic running pace.

“Y’know,  _maybe_ I was too quick to give up on the elevators: it’s not like I tried  _every_ floor-”

 

Brainz was  _very_ quick to give the elevator he’d quite literally dove from to save himself: another chance all things considering.

 

He made extra sure to watch out for the comparably sparse amount of spider webs in the first room as he doubled back: making panicked glances at all of them as he graduated to a full run, only stopping when he stood before the sliding doors once more.

**L3.**

 

His one eye twitched like clockwork, synchronized with the corresponding side of his body jolting every second or so, like hiccups. But he was still grinning and sounding obligatorily chipper and optimistic. Because he had no other choice, so he may as well be giddy about it, it was  _leagues_ better than…

“- I probably overestimated those guys! And anything else up there: and y’know what? Sticking to my plan?-”

 

His life saving plan that almost triggered a meltdown?

“ **_PPBbbbbht,_** no big deal: I’ve been getting by without it just  _FINE,_ I’ll find another way there,  _easily._ ”

 

He was just fine with this, there was no reason to panic. Brainz wouldn’t stop nodding and passively snickering at himself, overshadowing anything else that may have been screaming at him. He instead pressed the button and pointed his gun at the door, ready to blast whoever would be in there, all while smiling.

 

Hell… those two were  _afraid_ of their late captain? What would they have to say if Brainz disemboweled her and left her to cook? They’d buy that, if he still had that crazed look in his eye.

…

 

“Huh! Elevator  _sure_ is taking a while this time!”

 

He put some more thought into the plan as he waited, he’d present it as a bluff: even though it was the damning truth… he’d enough time to think through the new plan at least three times however…

 

“ _Maybe_ I didn’t press the button hard enough!”

He made sure that he did  _this_ time, even holding it down for five seconds and watching the blood rush to his fingertip from the pressure.

 

…

 

The tempo of his foot tapping had gotten faster than he could actively move it, so the restless leg took over: while the rest of him began to shake.

“The hell’s taking so long, I got shit to do,  ** _cmon!_  **”

 

Then he finally noticed something amiss about the elevator itself,  **L3,** wasn’t that big sign above the doors glowing and flashing when he left in a damn hurry? And for that matter… didn’t the elevator button glow too?

 

Weird…

 

He contemplated it for just a few moments longer as he waited, his hands fumbled and fought with each other to get a good grip on the gun: rearranging how they held it multiple times within seconds.

…

 

“ **Oh** ** _HELL_** **no, you fucking** ** _didn’t…”_**

 

His voice snapped, lifted up with the rush of impudence and defiance. Brainz shoved his gun back to the pocket and practically threw his bag to the ground, the sound of all the contents inside emitting a loud clashing noise as it struck. His hands groped madly for the zipper.

 

“ **_You…_** greasy motherfuckers…”

 

Brainz yanked the crowbar from the bag and took an empty swing with it.

“ **We’ll just see about that.”**

 

He was  _leaping_ to infuriated sounding assumptions and dire conclusions, spouting paranoid babble that sounded off with clarity only to him.

 

The audacity… like the monsters  _knew_ his weakness, they  _had_ to have found out from earlier, the  _cameras!_ Yes yes! They watched his every movement, they eavesdropped on his thoughts. They saw that little  ** _display_** he made at that house with the ghost sandwich, that  ** _eensy WEENSY TINY WEB,_** striking such  ** _FEAR_** into him.  ** _OF COURSE!!!_** It was the ONLY WAY.

 

“Kill the elevators on  _me?_ Trap me in some fuckin,  ** _spider dungeon??_** Think that’s gonna stop me?  _Hah!”_

 

See, they couldn’t take him down, no matter what they did to him: not even their greatest champion could,  _ohh no_. Royal guard, more like  ** _fucked up royally._** But they  _found_ his fault… his Achilles Heel. They saw it as a  _weakness,_ like it was  _his_ fault. It wasn’t like he did it WILLFULLY, not like it was fucking  ** _HEREDITARY._** Just the stupid result from a bunch of letters and genes stringing up each other! SHAMEFUL. Just like a monster  _would_ be. Only winning by using HUMAN traits and faults, they didn’t do  _anything!_ They couldn’t do anything even if they all banded together! Fucking  ** _LOSERS!!!_**

But not yet… not Brainz: humanity couldn’t take him down  _then,_ and these ugly freaks weren’t going to take him down  _now._ THIS… was a joke, and whoever was laughing at him, be it those two goons or that smiling houdini motherfucker… they weren’t going to find it so funny when he cracked their head open with a crowbar.

The flat end of the crowbar was thrust between the doors, Brainz secured it in and grunted with more strain in his voice, more effort: and far more agitation than the larger doors had caused. The chorus of creaking and groaning metal rose as did his own persisting sounds. The crowbar and the doors shook and rattled, and at the height of the stress from both the doors and him: when he felt he would devolve into full on yelling. A startling noise, the sound of something metallic being defeated, breaking off and falling down the shaft. It was the sound of leeway being gained, the one door gave up its struggle and Brainz was able to force it open with sudden ease.

 

It was a smug victory: if the monsters felt this was their ace up the sleeve, Brainz was going to slam them with a full house. This wasn’t his first stuck and/or disabled elevator, no no no.

 

He didn’t need the elevator cars, or power for that matter: doing it the manual way was  _just_ fine with him… however, he  _did_ need a little bit of light to see where the ladder was. It was like the circular shaft swallowed all the light coming in from the door: pitch black. He peered his head inside the elevator shaft, cold: without a wind current or sound, the sound of his lagging breaths carried far. He backed out and swapped tools, returning with the flashlight. He wouldn’t like what he saw… or what he  _didn’t_ see.

 

**Nothing.**

 

Despite the best efforts of the xenon bulb, it failed to illuminate anything: this shortcoming was of no fault of the law enforcement flashlight… but in the literal sense that there was  **nothing** to illuminate. No ladder, not even elevator cables or counterweights: it was as if  _these_ elevators were powered by bullshit  ** _magic._** There was no way he could cheat this one, he was stuck.

 

The sense of accomplishment and defiant vigor… he choked on it.

And these horrible creatures called  _him_ cruel…

 

What would Brainz do after the torrent of profanity…

After falling to his fours and pounding the metal ground with his hand in frustration, shouting indistinctly.

Asking the very god he claimed didn’t exist, why he hated him so much…understanding the futility of the question soon after.

Calling out for Flowey, discarding the dynamic that  _he_ was supposed to be the adult here: he begged for him, for his help…

 

**But nobody came…**

 

So now what?

 

He sat on the ground, facing the insatiable void and rocking himself slowly… feeling the irrepressible, bleak thoughts scratching at the back of his head: finding the cracks, seeping inside and sticking to everything like searing tar. They rushed him, screaming in his face, loud and ugly things. It would only be a matter of picking the lesser of them all…

 

How far was he to go, he could never assume he made it to the bottom of hell,  **it just keeps getting deeper.** By all means, this empty shaft could’ve reached Satan’s doorstep for all he knew.

 

What was he supposed to do  _now?_ Every last piece of him begged him not to get up, they knew where he would go, where he would be  _forced_ to go. He had no other choice…

 

Pursue the path of most resistance, force yourself down the gullet of the fear, licking its lips at you since the day you were born: its mouth drooling for forty-six long years… every house spider and web tucked in the corner giving it a taste of you. And now… you were going to give it everything it wanted, all for the sake of someone you met in the same day. You won’t put your foot down, and you refuse to throw in the towel…  **because then you’d be breaking**

 ** _ＡＮＯＴ_  ** **_ＨＥＲ ＰＲＯＭＩＳＥ._ **

* * *

 

[Sounds from Beneath (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/iA-HNRYlxz4)

 

That’s when he heard something… something coming from inside the hollow tube beyond him. At first, it was meager enough to exist solely in his rampaging mind, but it became louder… too loud and too close…

 

It sounded like someone or something was  _inside_ of the elevator shaft. It started, sounding very far below: at least two-hundred meters, where he could only hear the echoes... but it was ascending. He could hear it thrashing and banging against a metal surface.

 

The sounds it  _made though…_ it was like a wild animal was clambering its way up to  _get to him_ , screeching and howling as it struggled… its nails or claws scratching against the walls.

 

Brainz couldn’t get it to his mind to get up and move away, not yet: he found himself to be glued to the ground where he sat: only inches away from the portal, whatever was in there would be able to grab him and pull him in if it sought to… and that was the new screaming thought that came to him, yelling at him to get away… but strangely he did not feel compelled to listen to it, and sat as the sounds grew closer. The banging of metal began to ring in his ears, and the vibrations he could feel, it was only meters away from him.

 

Then he could see something emitting from the open doors, diffusing from below. It was a dark vapor, impossible to even see through; that’s how thick it was, like a suffocating cloud of smog blooming out. And the smell… musty, it made him think of death. To top it: despite being  _whatever_ type of gas it was, he could feel it coursing through his lungs: it was as cold as clay.

 

Something finally broke through to him, a lone synapse breaking through the stupefied haze: rushing to set off every danger light inside of him: finally, Brainz jumped to his feet and backed away: he coughed and hacked into his arm, trying to expel the cold toxin as it reached his head. The headache was immense, like a balloon was inflating inside of his skull, pushing on his brain. Just when he felt the pressure on his sinuses, feeling that his face would burst at any minute from it: he noticed that the noisy thing had finally reached his floor. A mass of red peeked at him from the bottom of the door. It was smiling.

 

[She's floating now (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/RYhGH4RaiNQ)

 

“No… no… you can’t… -”

 

He backed away further and covered his mouth, rapidly breathing through his nose.

 

**_“Ａｒｅｎ'ｔ ｙｏｕ ｇｏｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｓａｙ "Ｈｅｌｌｏ"?”_ **

 

He didn’t… not that it would matter, because he’d already met this voice, as her empty eyes stared into his.

 

“Ｇｒａｃｉｏｕｓ, ｃｈｉｌｄ... ｄｏｎ'ｔ ｙｏｕ ｋｎｏｗ ｔｈａｔ ｉｔ'ｓ ' _ｒｕｄｅ_  'ｔｏ ｓｔａｒｅ?”

 

That same horrible sounding voice, only hinting at what she should’ve sounded like: but now it was struck with a sickly  _sweet_ tone, twisted around a sense of bitter sarcasm… torturously endearing… and she was smiling at him… even with her jaw hanging, unhinged like that: he just  _knew_ she was smiling at him.

 

He did nothing but watch, frozen with his face contorted in that abject expression, an agape jaw was hiding behind his hands. He watched as she clumsily bore her boney claws through the steel plating on the floor and hoisting herself out from the shaft. In the full light, she was completely devoid of colour: like she had leapt out of that black and white film from his delusion. Save for the RED that poured from every one of her wounds, dripping to the ground and vaporizing into that overwhelming black smog. She cocked her head to the side.

 

“Ａｒｅｎ'ｔ ｙｏｕ ＨＡＰＰＹ ｔｏ ｓｅｅ ｍｅ?”

 

He was bewildered and scared beyond words: there was no telling why he did what he did next, but the decision wasn’t up to him.

Brainz shook his head over and over, a resounding disagreement to everything he was witnessing.

 

The thing’s deceptively “friendly” demeanor fell to the floor: he made it  _angry…_ and it bowed its head down denoting sorrow… and when it looked back up: it was able to stare at him with a newfound pair of eyes. A pair of black, totally black except their irises: one red, and one green. And it pulled the remainder of its lip back, revealing rows of gleaming, silver teeth.

 

His head shaking became more profound as the fear collected in the reserves: fuel for when he would make his move. Brainz refused to accept it, those eyes: seeing his life playing out in them, how he _hated_ himself. It made him angry, and it made him uncover his mouth: his teeth chattered until he drew his lips.

“ **_No.”_**

 

He mustered himself to make the defiance, but not for what “she” would do the moment he said that. Her two arms, how the meat sagged and fell off the bone: slopping around and falling from the holes in her sleeves, shot out, claws wide open and grabbing for him. Without so much as another word, she hurtled for him.

* * *

 

[GET AWAY FROM HER (Only up to 1:07)](https://youtu.be/YzeRBGV4SAQ)

 

 

Finally, the lone synapse: now in company with the rest of him: sparked the final  ** _DANGER_** light, they all fired simultaneously sending a shockwave that ignited the fear, setting his adrenal gland ablaze.

 

Brainz dove backwards to avoid the long claw, holding onto the momentum and rolling: snatching the jacket and bag under his arms: his feet touched the ground and he leapt from it, engaging in a dash to get away.

He sprinted through the first room with the spiderwebs without even making so much as a glance at them, he’d only saw how he passed them when he turned his head just to catch a glimpse at the beast… still chasing on him: and despite her decomposing look, she was  _gaining on him…_ and laughing maniacally.

 

The puzzle room, he was out of ground: he  _had_ to jump. Brainz looked down to his legs and pushed from the ground with all of his might, not even steering himself away from the hazardous heat vents. He felt the steam blanching his face as he leapt through the clouds. Despite everything, he’d managed to cross the room in his continuous run without so much as a stumble. All of that practice could’ve paid off, but the terror had given him wings.

 

_He could still hear the laughing, and the smell of death caught onto him like flypaper and wouldn’t let go._

 

He turned, whipping his head at the room before like the wild animal glaring at a human’s presence.  ** _She was still there_  **, but her pace had slowed down: she could never have made those jumps, not in her condition… but she didn’t  _have_ to jump.

 

She had inherited one of most infamous qualities of night terrors and was proceeding towards him without so much as moving her limbs. Floating towards him, just off of the ground at a steady pace: her head and body were limp, edging towards him like she was being held up by a noose. Her one arm still pointing at him, and the laughing: he could see her meatless jaw quaking back and forth.

 

Brainz turned back and kept running, he threw his things through the hole in the door and then slunk himself through it. He could hear the laughter coming at him from around the corner, she would round it at any second, he couldn’t stick around: he  _had_ to get away. Even if that meant…

 

[Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/2SJ1eh9TqJs)

 

Going in  _there._

 

Brainz found himself standing stockstill before the darkened room once more, this time: under the newest of circumstances. A situation where he would only consider it, if something  _worse_ was chasing him from behind. But  _nothing_ could be worse than spiders… except  ** _her._**

 

His legs wobbled from under him, worsening the more he thought about it: he would freeze up and they would be completely useless if he just stood here.  _Looking at those filthy, silky, sticky sheets strung across, how they were as tall as him!-”_

Brainz opened up the purple trench coat and madly fought to run his hands through the balled up sleeves: he put it on and hurried to button it closed from top to bottom: wrapping himself up.

 

It didn’t matter how hot it was, he was drenched in a different kind of sweat, more of it beaded from his head. He picked up his duffle bag and held it over his head: feeling how relatively light it was. Not even close to capacity: very flexible: like a pillow filled with gun magazines.

 

But it happened again, the horrible vision in front of him grabbed his focus and forced him to look into it. The portal to his very own hell, as if this one wasn’t  _personal_ enough.  _He could SEE them even in the dark, huddled black things, there were thousands…_ ** _MILLIONS_** _of them. Every surface of the room was covered in webs-ａｎｄ ｔｈｅｙ ｗｅｒｅ ａｌｌ ｇｏｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｊｕｍｐ ｏｎ ｈｉｍ, ｆｅｅｌｉｎｇ ａ ｍｉｌｌｉｏｎ ｔｉｎｙ ｌｅｇｓ ｃｒａｗｌｉｎｇ ｏｎ ｈｉｓ ｓｋｉｎ, ｃｌｉｍｂｉｎｇ ｉｎｔｏ ｈｉｓ ｍｏｕｔｈ ａｎｄ ｃｏｍｉｎｇ ｏｕｔ ｏｆ ｈｉｓ ｎｏｓｅ: ｃｏｖｅｒｉｎｇ ｈｉｓ ｅｙｅｓ._

 

**_Ｔｈｅｙ'ｌｌ ｗｒａｐ ｙｏｕ ｕｐ ｉｎ ａ ｂｉｇ ｗｈｉｔｅ ｓｈｅｅｔ,_ **

**_ｙｏｕ'ｌｌ ｂｅ ｃｏｖｅｒｅｄ ｆｒｏｍ ｙｏｕｒ ｈｅａｄ ｔｏ ｙｏｕｒ ｆｅｅｔ._ **

**_Ｗｈｅｎ ｔｈｅｙ'ｖｅ ｃａｕｇｈｔ ｙｏｕ, ｔｈｅｙ'ｒｅ ｉｎ ｆｏｒ ａ ｔｒｅａｔ,_ **

**_ｔｈｅｙ'ｌｌ ｆｉｇｈｔ ｗｉｔｈ ｅａｃｈ ｏｔｈｅｒ ｏｖｅｒ ｗｈｉｃｈ ｐａｒｔｓ ｔｏ ＥＡＴ._ **

**_Ｄｏｎ'ｔ ｙｏｕ ｗｏｒｒｙ ｙｏｕｒ ＳＩＣＫ ｌｉｔｔｌｅ ｈｅａｄ._ **

**_Ｉｔ'ｌｌ ｂｅ ＨＯＵＲＳ ｂｅｆｏｒｅ ｙｏｕ'ｒｅ ｄｅａｄ._ **

**_Ｙｏｕ ｔａｓｔｅ ｂｅｔｔｅｒ ｗｈｅｎ ｙｏｕ ｈｏｐｅｌｅｓｓｌｙ ｆｅｎｄ,_ **

**_ｔｈｅｙ'ｒｅ ｇｏｎｎａ ｅａｔ ｙｏｕ ＡＬＩＶＥ ｕｎｔｉｌ ｔｈｅ ＶＥＲＹ ＥＮＤ._ **

The voice wasn’t his, he could feel its cold breath blowing into his ear.

**“Ｒｕｎ”**

 

He did just that, breaking free of her and covering his head with the duffel bag; Brainz stampeded into the room without so much as a plan. He did this all while yelling ferociously.

 

[Tickles on Your back (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/TNG7ILZxw1w)

Into the darkness.

 

Brainz ducked his head into his shoulders the farthest he could to protect himself: bending it down so he wouldn’t expose his face and to ram through the webs, he even pulled his hands inside of the jacket’s sleeves. He charged into the hellscape unknowing if it even  _had_ a way out. It would’ve been the largest and last oversight he’d done, considering his heart would give out from fright.  

 

And the yelling, that was all he could think of doing, all he could to do  _NOT_ think about it. His mind  _really_ wanted to, he could hear it screaming at him: just under his own.

 

The ground was like melted tar, even through the suppression of all sound from covering his ears: he could still  _hear_ the sticky webs crackling and crunching under his boots. Even worse… and it was _going_ to get worse… his legs began to feel heavier and heavier, with more burden and energy needed to move them building with every step. The webs were wrapping around his legs.

 

He only pushed himself harder, thrashing his legs and kicking them to free himself: his pace continued to slow more and more, soon it felt like he was wading in cement. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t move any faster.

 

Something about nightmares? When the danger is right behind you, and no matter how much you want to get away… you can’t move your body any faster than a sluggish shuffle. You can  _feel_ the weakness wrapping itself around your limbs. The worst part was, you  _knew_ that it was coming, that you were doomed… it was just  _when…_ that eluded you. And right now… it had reached Brainz.

 

**_He couldn’t move anymore._ **

 

The sensation was indescribable, he tried desperately not to let it speak to him, he  _couldn’t_ lose focus: he  _couldn’t_ perceive the situation.

 

Brainz grappled with all of his might to move, his legs shifted and quaked but his feet refused to tear from the immensely strong adhesion. It was as if the cement up to his shins had hardened into solid concrete:  **he let the analogy slip…** ** _and with it did his focus…_** Brainz opened his eyes.

 

Completely ensnared in gigantic spider webs, in complete and utter darkness,  ** _Ｆｅｅｌｉｎｇ_** the countless  _tickles_ and  ** _ITCHES_** all up his back and throughout his arms… only hearing that little rhyme mixed with laughter booming in his head: he’d absolutely nothing for four seconds… four seconds for everything to bottleneck, and when he could see: just barely contrasting from the total darkness… one little spider perched on his nose…

 

[Arachnophobe (Soundtrack) !!!WARNING, LOUD AND DISTURBING!!! ](https://soundcloud.com/user-37215732/wmam-story-soundtrack-spider-nightmare/s-U2Qc9)

 

 

He shrieked at the top of his lungs, everything:  the hummingbird like speed of his heart, coarse suctions for air, and the laughter:  _especially_ the laughter… all overshadowed by his unearthly screams of terror. Brainz screeched beyond the loudest he’d ever known he could: long, blood curdling shouts only paused by no more than three involuntary gasps for oxygen, but another, more rough squeal would follow immediately after.

 

He’d thrashed like never before, his entire body seized and convulsed: like an entrapped wolf madly trying to escape a trap. But no matter what he did, no matter the terror raging into his heart: it was all moot. He never stopped this… it was beyond him now, he would never stop screaming and struggling until he had nothing left to scream or struggle with.

 

After the third horrible minute of it: suddenly: the semblance of higher thought. A word came out of him, a long and drawn out call… at the climax of the night terror.

“ ** _WHHHYYYYY!!!!!??"_**

 

Followed by a powerful, forceful set of sobs.

 

With whatever dwindling reserve of energy he didn’t burn through yet, he was reduced to a childish kind of wailing, crying from his fear. Each whine seeping out of him with less volume and more sorrow.

 

When he truly had nothing left, his body couldn’t handle the strain any longer, he came to an abrupt halt and stopped functioning.

 

For now, he was gone.

 

**43:03:00**

**43:02:59**

**43:02:58**

**...**

 


	4. .Least Probable Outcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴍɪꜱꜱ Mᴜғғᴇᴛ ꜱʜᴇ ꜱᴀᴛ ᴏɴ ʜᴇʀ ᴛᴜғғᴇᴛ, ᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ᴄᴜʀᴅꜱ ᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜᴇʏ Aʟᴏɴɢ ᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴀ ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ᴡʜᴏ ꜱᴀᴛ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ʙᴇꜱɪᴅᴇ ʜᴇʀ Aɴᴅ ғʀɪɢʜᴛᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴍɪꜱꜱ Mᴜғғᴇᴛ ᴀᴡᴀʏ.

  


**_-“ᴵ ᶜᴬᴺ ᴺᴱᵛᴱᴿ ᵀᴱᴸᴸ ᴵᶠ ᴴᴱ’ˢ ᴬᵂᴬᴷᴱ ᴼᴿ ᴺᴼᵀ…”_ **

 

**_“ᵂᴴᴬᵀ ᴰᴼ ᵞᴼᵁ ᴹᴱᴬᴺ?”_ **

 

**_-“ᴶᵁˢᵀ ᴸᴼᴼᴷ ᴬᵀ’ᴵᴹ! ᴴᴱ’ˢ ᴬᴸᵂᴬᵞˢ ᴶᵁˢᵀ ᴳᴸᴬᴿᴵᴺᴳ ˢᵀᴿᴬᴵᴳᴴᵀ ᴬᴴᴱᴬᴰ, ᴰᴼᴱˢᴺ’ᵀ ᴱᵛᴱᴺ ᴮᴸᴵᴺᴷ: ᵂᴴᴬᵀ ᴵˢ ᴴᴱ ᴱᵛᴱᴺ ᴸᴼᴼᴷᴵᴺᴳ ᴬᵀ?”_ **

 

**_“... ᴵ… ᴵ ᴴᴬᵛᴱ ᴺᴼ ᴵᴰᴱᴬ.”_ **

 

**_-“ᴵᵀ’ˢ ᶜᴿᴱᴱᴾᵞ.”_ **

 

**_“ˢᴴᴴ! ᴷᴱᴱᴾ ᵞᴼᵁᴿ ᵛᴼᴵᶜᴱ ᴰᴼᵂᴺ, ᵀᴴᴱ ᵂᴬᴿᴰᴱᴺ ˢᴬᴵᴰ ᴺᴼᵀ ᵀᴼ ᴵᴺᵀᴱᴿᴬᶜᵀ ᵂᴵᵀᴴ ᵀᴴᴵˢ ᴼᴺᴱ, ᴴᴱ’ˢ ᴺᵁᵀˢ.”_ **

* * *

* * *

**7//3//2K3**

* * *

* * *

 

**_E4R(# BL*#A FHL*UXTS_ **

**_([;SOP1t5%^_ **

 

  * **_**_\- - j_**_**


  * **_\---n_**


  * **_\----- --- --------- ---- --90---------_**



 

> 22222 **i2i** **_2_ ** 22222222- **_ᴬ ᴾˢᵞᶜᴴᴼᴳᴱᴺᴵᶜ ᴮᴸᴬᶜᴷᴼᵁᵀ ᶜᴬᴺ ᴮᴱ ᴰᴵᶠᶠᴵᶜᵁᴸᵀ ᵀᴼ ᴰᴵᴬgnose_ ** . Most often it occurs in young adults as a result of stress or anxiety. However, the link between blackouts and stress may not be obvious.  
> 
> 
> ‘ᴘꜱʏᴄʜᴏɢᴇɴɪᴄ’ ᴅᴏᴇꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ᴍᴇᴀɴ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ‘ᴘᴜᴛᴛɪɴɢ ɪᴛ ᴏɴ’. ɪɴ ᴍᴏꜱᴛ ᴄᴀꜱᴇꜱ ᴀ ᴘꜱʏᴄʜᴏɢᴇɴɪᴄ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋᴏᴜᴛ ɪꜱ ᴀɴ ɪɴᴠᴏʟᴜɴᴛᴀʀʏ ʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀᴀɪɴ ᴛᴏ ᴘʀᴇꜱꜱᴜʀᴇ ᴏʀ ᴅɪꜱᴛʀᴇꜱꜱ. ᴘꜱʏᴄʜᴏɢᴇɴɪᴄ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋᴏᴜᴛꜱ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ ᴅᴇᴠᴇʟᴏᴘ ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇᴅ ɪʟʟ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴏʀ ᴛʀᴀᴜᴍᴀ. ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴀʀᴇ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ ᴀ ʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ᴀ ʜᴏʀʀɪꜰɪᴄ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀꜱᴛ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴀ ᴘᴀᴛɪᴇɴᴛ ʜᴀꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴇʀᴍꜱ ᴡɪᴛʜ.

E **4R r** _#C$3h I0C@ITyion N0t 77 &0_3Ndb coRup3D dssio, _

* * *

 

“- and you didn’t do _anything_ to him?”

 

“No, I haven’t laid a single limb on him.”

 

“My _god_ though, just…”

* * *

 

AZ-BRe6-CH4 (&4$shkas zZzs-..-9j

()((((0)087/ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ʟɪᴋᴇʟʏ ᴀ ᴘꜱʏᴄʜᴏɢᴇɴɪᴄ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋᴏᴜᴛ ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ᴀ ᴛᴇᴍᴘᴏʀᴀʀʏ ᴘʀᴏʙʟᴇᴍ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀᴀɪɴ ɪꜱ ᴡᴏʀᴋɪɴɢ. ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀᴀɪɴ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇ “ᴏᴠᴇʀʟᴏᴀᴅᴇᴅ” ᴀɴᴅ “ꜱʜᴜᴛ ᴅᴏᴡɴ” ꜰᴏʀ ᴀ ꜱʜᴏʀᴛ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴡʜᴇɴ ꜰᴀᴄᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ᴋɪɴᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛᴇɴɪɴɢ ꜰᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ, ꜱɪᴛᴜᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴏʀ ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀʏ. ᴀʟᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜ ɪᴛ- C3 _Ab_ **4…** _._ Idtotxxxd*73… **_6 FIVE rAUGHT, Sh1ELD._ **

* * *

* * *

**I hear voices.**

 

“-I mean, he took one look at you and just… I’ve never heard anyone _scream_ like that, let alone a human.”

  


A hint of potential outrage, but it didn’t sound really sincere.

“ _Ah- hey!_ What’re you trying to say there??”

 

The first voice had some instant panic in it, it stammered for a second.

“Wha-b-bu- b- _nothing!_ Nothing, just… I knew the rumor that humans were afraid of spiders, but I didn’t think it was _this_ true.”

  


He’d enough of his brain back to function to be aware of the voices: but not enough to know he was catatonic, all he could manage to do was hear the passing conversation, the only other part of him that worked was concerned with life support. The given aspects of life, metabolism and breathing… the more cognitive functions though...

 _Dha2902 HL:_+91@s7_ **_ssureSign sign sing: crAK critikul F_ ** a1iur3 r **_e800#1nG_ **

  


So there were two voices, one male and one female.

 

There was a lapse in the conversation he could hear, it came back somewhere else, with the feminine voice fading in. Strangely: he was able to tell the subtle anxiety in both of them.

“-no. He’s not one of them… this is _him…_ y’know, _the_ human.”

 

A gasp, followed by whispered awe.

“How do you know?”

 

Whoever the feminine voice was; she sounded closer than before, like she was inspecting him.

“Look at his clothes, doesn’t match them all. The purple coat… the royal guard captain told us about the human with the purple coat when she came by earlier, remember?”

 

“Ohhh yeah, it _is_ him! Oh god… he’s _dangerous.”_

 

The female scoffed and muttered.

“Can’t be more dangerous than _them…”_

  


“ _What?_ But Muffet… you heard her, saying he attacked _everyone_ he came across: not to mention how much he _hated_ spiders… he probably _stomped_ on countless!”

 

“Muffet” it seemed, did not agree with this voice. In fact, from the sound of it; she didn’t seem at all concerned… very low key bitter.

“He’s not going anywhere Todd, it’s fine. And besides,I think she has _bigger_ concerns than him right now… I think we _all_ do… if he’s here-”

 

A pause, more tense than it needed to be.

“- then they can’t be too far behind.”

 

“Todd” didn’t have anything to rebuke her with this time, which was fine: because Muffet still had more to say.

 

“Besides… she just spouted that, about _us…_ in a really big hurry, I didn’t even get to ask her if there was a **_reward_ ** or anything before she was already out the door.”

 

Todd seemed to have formed some assumption or pattern, and he sounded skeptical. Betting anything… he was probably squinting while saying this,

“What’re you _saying_ exactly?”

  


“Before we lost contact with the RUINS, heck… with all of our families outside in _general:_ we already knew about Brainz, long before she came running in yelling about him.”

  


“Who?’

 

“ _Brainz,_ that’s his name: but the point is, every time he’s popped up where our families were, we heard about it: the RUINS, the cold forest, all over Waterfall, and-”

 

Her tone shifted, jumping to something.

“- you remember that ad space we bought in the waterfall?-”

 

Presumably, Todd probably nodded.

 

“-He was there too… but do you want to know what every single telegram with him on them said?”

  


Again… Todd most likely approved the inquiry without saying anything: there was a longer pause here. Either indication hesitation or preparation. Muffet finally continued.

“He couldn’t have harmed a single spider… he was too afraid to even come _close…_ Todd, when he saw that flier in there: he _ran_ out of there as fast as he could.”

  


Brainz was beginning to show more basic signs of sentience, he was able to feel that he was laying down: propped up, perhaps into someone’s lap: and that they were talking about him.

He was still too sunken into himself to process any of it… just a little longer. The two didn’t seem to notice anything.

 

She continued.

“Look at him… we nearly spooked his SOUL right out of him, without so much as an attack or turning him as purple as that coat…”

 

Todd cherry picked something deducting from her point.

“ _Hey,_ wait: his SOUL. We have it now! Muffet, we can take it up to the capitol. They’d probably give us _whatever_ we wanted!”

A different kind of her probably would’ve taken that without a doubt, the keys to the good life brought to her in a heated limo: all without lifting a single arm. But against assumptions and allegations, she refused.

 

“Todd… no.”

 

He almost couldn’t believe what he’d heard, the disbelief would stay up there for a good moment.

“What?? Are you _mad?_ This is _exactly_ what we need!! We’d never have to worry about money _again!_ This is the key to the kingdom right here!”

 

She knew he would react like this, it sounded insane to her too… but she knew why it wasn’t, it was a solemn fact.

“What good is the kingdom going to _be_ in a while though? It doesn’t matter: all the money in the world isn’t going to help us…”

 

Todd was Flabbergasted, he really couldn’t make sense of this: and would try to throw something else against it.

“Yeah! But- But… but they only need **_one more!_ ** If we bring it to the capitol, we’d be able to-”

 

She cut him off… it was going to be better than letting him set up his hopes, high up and without supports: a tower of sand for which to fall with just the slightest breeze.

“By the time any one of us would even get there… there’d be nothing to come home to, nothing… and no one…-”  


He didn’t try to counter her again.

 

“- I wouldn’t dream of taking my poor babies away from their home… they won’t even survive the evacuation, let alone cold or hot places…”

 

She sighed, unburdened it seemed. But then a small titter, perhaps directed at herself: like she found something amusing.

“Huhuhuu… y’know: spend your whole life fixated on _money_ of all things: how it’s gonna make it better in the end… well here we are, dearie… here… we are…”

 

There was a mutual silence now. A sort of unspoken consensus being reached, it wasn’t long before she had something else to say, more candid.

“I’m not even too upset about it, I guess I just realized how silly it really is, how petty: I spent my whole life with nothing else in mind, we worked and worked… and it doesn’t even matter.”

 

She tittered again, weaker though: a little heavier this time. When she spoke again, there wasn’t a trace of humor in her voice.

“Besides… he wouldn’t do Asgore any good even if we did get there in time.”

 

Presumably she’d shifted back to Brainz’s body.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“His SOUL… there’s something _terribly,_ terribly wrong with his SOUL… when he went limp like that: I couldn’t tell if he’d actually _died_ from fright…”

 

Her voice came awfully close to his head, which was almost ready to start up again.

“- but he’s still breathing… now I don’t know much about this, but we know that human SOULs can exist for a while after their body has died… remember how their body and SOUL are different things; they keep each other alive?”

 

A pause, a reluctant nod telling her to proceed?  


“-One of those things in him is dead… I can sense it, I can _CHECK_ it: that some part of him is more dead than alive… but it just doesn’t know which one it is.”

 

“That’s _impossible…_ If his SOUL is gone, You wouldn’t be able to CHECK him… and if his body is dead, he wouldn’t have been able to run in like that! He can’t be _kind of_ dead… _is_ that even possible?”

 

Muffet sounded more candid than the comment.

“Dunno, I’m not an expert on this, my job is running a bakery, not understanding human SOULs… if the royal scientist is still alive: it’d be her cup of tea. When was the last time we heard of her?-”

 

A pause.

“-hmm? She’s probably gone already.”

 

“My god though…”

 

“I know, it’s crazy, but being there’s only been one time a monster absorbed a presumably _normal_ human soul… we really don’t know how it works… and we _really_ don’t know what would happen with _this_ one…”

 

Suddenly there was a softness to her tone, a recognizable sympathy.

“Poor dearie…”

  


Todd did not share the tone, he almost sounded offended.

“Poor _him?_ You feel bad for _him??”_

 

He was obviously upset that her tone was meant for more deserving monsters, like it wasn’t supposed to go to Brainz… this _human_ of all things. But yet here she was, telling him so.

“I know… and I would be right with you...  thinking the same thing: before he ran into the parlor… before he screamed like he did...  Todd, we’ve never seen a human before, not like _this…_ it’s always been “ **_How we’re one step closer to freedom, our King took the 4th SOUL today,_ ** or **_Aspiring Guard gets promoted to Captain after successfully killing Human._ ** Or just a SOUL floating in a jar… Other than that, what else do we know about Humans? Not about their stupid SOULs, or-”

 

She sounded a trifle sarcastic and fantastacized this next part.

“- “ _The POWER inside of them”-”_

 

Back to normal.

“-or how every single one of them is guilty for what happened thousands of years ago.”

 

Todd seemed to reach his peak for this, he frustratedly chimed in, the sudden audacity and volume was enough to make Brainz twitch.

“Muffet, listen to yourself, you’re saying this while an _army_ of them is running through this place: doing the **_exact SAME thing_ ** all over again!! They’re _killing_ us and you’re concerned with defending **_HIM?_ ** Did you not see the hole in the Captain?? I highly doubt she did that to _herself!_ Looks to me like “ **_BRAINZ”_ ** is _no_ different!”

 

For once, it seemed Muffet was going to lose her cool too, she didn’t sound nearly as elevated as the small outburst, but definitely put more assertion into her next choice of words.

“But he didn’t **_kill._ ** _Her…_ the fact she was able to come in here cursing about him, irritated like she had a pebble in her boot. He’s far more _innocent_ than the **_green humans.”_ **

 

“I’m sure he _WOULD’VE_ killed her if she’d given him the _chance!_ She probably booked it before he could finish her off, I don’t know!

 

For some reason, this de-escalated her. She calmed herself with the hopes he would do the same, especially after this next part.

“Todd… you know Undyne as much as I do… she’s **_incapable_ ** of running from a fight, and losing? She doesn’t just **“lose”** that would never happen either _heavens forbid she’s ever beaten at anything._ We found that out firsthand,  I wasn’t sure this Parlor could handle anymore damage… but now: I _know_ he did that to her, there is no argument there, looking at him now: he looks like he’s been in a _couple_ of fights… maybe all of them were with her, maybe with others… but do you know what I really think?-”

 

Todd didn’t, but he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear next.

“- I think he didn’t start _any_ of them. I think, it wasn’t _her_ who ran away: but _him._ Sure, he did what he did: but if he had any _true_ malice: he would’ve killed her… if he had this murderous intention we’re supposed to believe all humans do… then he would have attacked our spiders, but he ran away… in fact: I think that’s the only reason he wandered here in the first place… do you know that, Todd?-”

 

He didn’t.

 

“-Why would **_anybody_ ** let alone a human or monster waltz through our home? I know why, because they didn’t have any other choice… when our scientist disabled the main elevators for the upteenth time for god knows what, what other choice did monsters have than to cut through our little parlor? What other reason did _we_ hike our prices by two thousand percent?-”

 

“Because it was more of a _toll_ than anything, you got tired of people walking in and out and messing up the webs: so they either paid to pass, or you scared them away.”

Todd knew that all too well, the way he presented it though; seemed it wanted to remind Muffet she wasn’t as morally high as he assumed she let off. She knew what she was doing and took heavy advantage of it. What an unusual time to develop a conscience though… especially at this human’s expense. But she took this thought and embraced it, she couldn’t avoid blame: but it could help get her idea out.

“- _yes._ So now ask yourself. Why would a human, a human with the attention of nearly the entire underground: decide to walk through this place? A human who not only ran away from the Royal Guard Captain, but also happens to be deathly afraid of spiders?”

 

It took a moment for Todd to answer her, and she _was_ going to wait for him to answer her, and when he would open his mouth again: it was either going to answer a question with a question, or he was going to have put the pieces together and joined Muffet on her perspective.

“Because he had no other choice…”

 

He admitted it, it was done quite begrudgingly: and exactly what Muffet wanted to hear… she made sure he got the entire gist of it.

“Everyone is after him because he’s human, they want his SOUL, they don’t know that it is very ill… but that won’t stop them… he dared to fight the Captain of the Royal Guard, and managed to _run away_ from her: if she didn’t have the new issue to worry about, I would say he’s incurred her wraith… but I’m sure he’s more concerned with _them._ ”

 

Todd wasn’t in the mindset to try to argue with her anymore, but he still had doubts.

“Right, and how are we sure that he isn’t _with_ them? Just because his clothes don’t match, doesn’t mean he can’t be… some kind of _scout…_ and _no,_ I’m not suggesting this because he’s a human… but it’s terribly fit that these _other humans_ come down here just after he did… isn’t that a little _much_ to be coincidence?”

 

There was an audible “Hmm” coming out of her, a short lived one.

“Well… I suppose you’re right, there’s nothing to say that they aren’t related, but I can’t say he belongs to them… there’s just, _something_ about him: that **lost** look in his eyes-”

 

“Ugh, I hate how his eyes are open like that: it’s _creepy,_ like what is he even staring at?-”

 

A brief pause.

“-Sorry.”

 

Muffet Continued.

“- do you remember the first we heard of him, two days ago? The weird lady. Our folks in the RUINS said he looked as dead as he does now… he got like that from the surface… I’d be inclined to think so… but the thing is: if they were looking for him, or _something…_ why are they killing people?”

 

Bitterness… contempt even.

“They’re _humans,_ Muffet, they don’t need kindness to exist… you got me here on _this_ one’s motives… but the green ones… I think I’m allowed to compare them to the same ones who put us down in this hole…”

  


Muffet did not protest that, unlike Brainz who was all speculations: she had nothing else on these “green humans” she didn’t see into them. After some more silence between the two, Todd broke it.

“So… what’re we going to do with him? If they’re after him, or something… if that’s why he’s running away, what’s he going to do if he reaches the end? If his soul really is… _broken;_ he won't be able to cross, will he… and if he’s suffering like this… do you think it would be better to just… **stop it?-”**

 

No immediate reaction, it allowed the pause to happen.

“- at least while his guard is down: so it’d be painless… I wouldn’t know what we’d do with the SOUL, but… yeah…”

 

To be fair, it really wasn’t as horrible as it first premiered to be: Muffet even found the term for it herself.

“Mercy by Killing…”

In the end though, she was already making up her mind before he suggested it, and would find out it didn’t sway her decision.

“No… we’ve already done enough to him: the last thing we could do would be to take his choice away from him… I may be stingy, but I am not a cruel spider. He deserves his chance, just like everybody else: no matter how small it is… after all, he _did_ make it this far in _mostly_ one piece.”

 

Todd sighed.

“Yeah… I suppose so, he chose to keep going instead of stopping and giving up.”

  


Then a more humored sigh came out of him, something ironically funny came to his head.

“Y’know, I bet he won’t have heard a single word of this: he’ll get up and go right back to hating spiders, even though a spider spared him."

 

Muffet had reserved herself for a moment, but afterwards,

“Speaking of which, help me free him up; he’s starting to squirm.”

 

Brainz's system had completed its biological self diagnostics and was rebooting. The first priority was getting him back to function as a person. To get up from wherever he was, remembering everything would come later: the last of his marbles to gather.

“....eghh, _urghh…”_  


Breathing did not feel very nice, he could swear his throat was becoming more and more like sandpaper: he could feel the aches trying to start at his various parts, but impeded from the effects of the medicine… which he’d just remembered taking a bit back.

 

There were voices though… not the ones that always bothered him when he went down, no. These were _real_ voices, they sounded real at least.

“... the hell… happened… where am I…”  


The memory lag wasn’t as bad as before, he knew he was still in monster infested hell, but was hazy on the specifics.

 

Suddenly though, an unexpected answer came to his self directed thoughts. A familiar voice, laden with the same sickly sweet sensation that would make your head spin.

“Relax there, you’re with friends.”

 

Brainz didn’t _have_ any friends… not here at least… no wait, that kid: flowey… well _that was different…_ but more pressingly, who the hell was this? He blinked the burning dryness from his eyes and gained a picture of just where he was.

 

...

 

One two- three four **five,** five big, glistening eyes staring right into him… sharp and pointy teeth… were those… **_pigtails?_ ** It was _holding_ him, with how many arms? **Four?** **_Six??._ **

 

*Oh my god…

 

“Hello Dearie, feeling any better?”

 

 _Something_ made him look down, feeling something on his chest… a fuzzy tarantula, roughly the size of a phone book… it _also_ spoke with a familiar voice.

“Uh… _hi?...._

Uhp… _and_ he’s gone again…”

 

“Right… should’ve thought of that, afraid of spiders…. Whoopsie daisy.”

 

“I… I got an idea, Muffet-”  


That was the last he heard before his brain turned itself off, not from an overindulgence in terror: it just simply refused to process this… why bother... 

* * *

 

What was this sound, diffusing into the depths of unconsciousness? It was like being submerged in “touchless” liquid, suspended almost into nothingness, while a soft tune was playing just outside, blurred and softened by the calm liquid.

 

A trailing hum, unjarring and placid: like a mother’s lullaby.

 

It was almost peaceful… until the veil of softened sound faded away, cleared up by regaining brain activity… where the song became more clear… and also “worse”.

 

Whatever tune it was, whoever was humming it: they were off key. What made it worse was the interrupting bouts of nervous giggling and sheepish blurbs.

“- stop it! I _told_ you I was no good at singing-

 

-this was _your_ idea, Todd: stop looking at me like that!-”

 

“Hey shh, he’s coming back around again!”

  


Brainz stirred and groaned again, he was waking much faster than last time: what with the inherent shock still in his system… all he knew from the get go was that there were _spiders._ And that he needed to _leave._

 

He was still without sight or bearing on the world, but his stirs became more panicked, as he struggled to get off the ground, already laced with adrenaline.

 

“Hey-hey-hey! Relaxrelax. Relax… you’re fine! It’s OK-”

 

The voice had a different tune to sing, no longer gentle or passive: but directly aimed at trying to console him. The words didn’t get through to him, especially as he felt something or someone holding him down.

 

“- take- it - _easy!_ You’re safe- **there are NO spiders!** There are no more spiders anymore, they’re all gone!”

 

He stopped struggling and the weight on his eyelids seemed to ease up, he didn’t notice that he’d closed them, and so tightly. But still on the short side of his bearings and memory, he suddenly found himself speaking to the voice, sounding vulnerable and exposed.

“They’re gone? Are you sure?”

 

It wasn’t like him to blindly trust this voice, especially the familiar ring to it. But it sounded genuinely sympathetic. The only not horrible thing in his life right now.

“Yes, I _promise,_ dear- The spiders aren’t going to scare you anymore: I made sure of it, you’re safe now.”

 

There was still so much missing, and come any other situation he would’ve known better and questioned this with the highest degree of skepticism. But right now, the lapse of terror had broken: and it was the most merciful feeling in the world.

 

He’d waited until his senses told him the rest of the information, before he would get a look at the world. He was laying down on the ground again… but a much harder and more flat surface. Nobody was propping him up: and he wasn’t surrounded by sticky webs. He found that he was able to freely move his limbs (outside of the grogginess), mind the two hands pressed on his shoulders.

 

He clenched and opened his eyes, bracing for the truth.

 

He found himself looking through a layer of unkempt hair to meet his “rescuer’s” solicitous gaze. Two eyes behind the hair partially blocking them: it was slightly difficult to make her out, even with the scenery changing to something far less horrible: it was still poor on the lighting.

 

Two skinny arms, connected to some pretty looking dress, taking a good look at her: she was actually considerably smaller than him, but the voice paired to her made out that she was not a child. She spoke, removing her arms and bringing one to her mouth,

“Are you alright?? W- I thought you were a goner.”

 

He looked just past her, to see… a night sky… a night sky full of stars, with a full moon to take the stage: could it be?

 

Of _course_ not, real stars weren’t shaped like… well, **_stars._ ** And he could just see the cables holding them up, what was _this_ now? This some kind of stage? There was a room full of seats, all arranged in pretty rows: it looked like he was in some kind of _theatre?_ But that wasn’t important, what _was_ important was the evil looking entrance… decorated with those god awful webs… just at the far end of the room.

 

He’d been dragged to the other side of the realized night terror. When he really processed this, that he was _alive…_ he’d forgotten how giddy a person could be: and began laughing nervously.

 

There was _another_ break in the ragged storm of his life: and for once: everything felt _more_ than OK: it was downright **_beautiful._ ** Words could not aspire to describe the relief that poured from him.

 

To his rescuer, she probably didn’t expect what he would do next as she eased off of him: seeing the colour return to him and the serious elevation to his mood. She was still sitting over his laying form: within range for him to suddenly wrap his arms around her and nearly squeeze the life out of her. She made a small, surprised noise as he pulled her down to the floor with him. Brainz held onto her for dear life, rocking left and right.

“ _Thank you!_ Oh my god, thank you **_So SO much!!_ ** **Bless your heart!!”**

 

He almost choked out a sob too. Like he didn't know how to take someone doing something nice for him.

 

As for his “victim?” she was quite unprepared for it and had tensed up when he first grabbed her: but as he spilled his gratitude: she relaxed too. Even a small titter, her voice seemed to lighten up some, she was downright flattered.

“Ahu- aww- you’re very welcome, dearie.”

He finally felt his own internal awkwardness begging him to let her go. His returning inhibitions telling him how inappropriate that was. He wasn’t even sure why his cheeks felt warm, warmer than everything else. He got to his feet promptly and tried to change the mood while he brushed himself off and looked away, he didn’t want to see the look on her face even though she sounded quite unbothered by what he did. Brainz stuttered.

“Th-the-the-fa- _that,_ that was _horrible…_ I didn’t think I was gonna get out of there- I am just… I can’t even- you-”

 

She’d brushed herself off too and interrupted him.

“It’s fine, Dearie. Don’t you worry your head over it: I was just glad to help-”

 

Brainz didn’t realize she had moved away from him and was gravitating back towards the evil room, she carried on as she slunk towards it.

“- I wish you good luck on your journey, Brainz: I have to tend to some _business_ back there: so I must go.”

 

She seemed to be in a great hurry to leave, and so suddenly too. He hadn’t even a chance to ask her for a name or what the living hell she was doing down in a place like this… what _was_ she doing down here anyway? In fact, _who_ was she? And how did she know his name?

“Hey, wait! What’re you- don’t go in _there!!”_

 

She stopped just at the maw of the door and turned to him, even in the dim light and distance (he wasn’t getting close to that place) he could see the red splotches on her face. She addressed him rather quickly.

“Don’t worry about me! They don’t bother me one bit, how else would I have gotten you out of there? But good luck though! Also! Don’t forget your things. I brought them out for you too, I checked: no spiders!”

She pointed, making him turn to witness the duffel bag laying on the ground near where he’d lay. When he looked back for her, she was gone.

 

Well _this_ was a way to wake up from a nightmare of a nightmare… stuck up with so many questions: he couldn’t even fathom the more horrifying remnants of what he’d just been through.

 

A belated and very deserving shudder finally came through and jostled his entire body, despite her promises of being spider free: Brainz had to honor the compulsion to check himself once more, clothes and bag in all.

 

Who was that short woman though? Could she have been another human like him? Obviously more experienced with this place… or could she have been- wait… what’re you doing?

He was actually taking steps _towards_ the spider room?? Despite everything he’d been through: he wasn’t even thinking about it: he just _was._

The influx of whatever raged through him, using up every chemical responsible for fear reaction: it was as if he’d spent all of them, and couldn’t react to his phobia. By all means, he was still terrified beyond reason of this room, but it didn’t stop him from approaching it (Cautiously) and peeking in…

 

He just couldn’t help it: his sensible thoughts were still on their way to his head.

 

He could just barely see through the sheets and sheets of silk, but he heard them: the familiar voices… one of them belonged to the person who rescued him. And the one that was talking, the male voice was just audible. Buried somewhere in that mess.

“- _actually_ worked.”

 

Then her voice, still with that sweet tone and slight flattered feel.

“Yeah, good thinking there, Todd.”

 

So he _did_ hear that name, but there was another one: what was it?

“Gosh though Muffet, I didn’t think he was going to hug you like that: I thought he was about to _crush_ you, he looked like he was!”

 

“Muffet” giggled.

“It was adorable. I told you we had him all wrong, he’s almost as fuzzy as you. I really hope he turns out OK in the end.”

 

“Aheh.. heh...Right, well: you can take it easy now, relax your arms.”

 

Brainz just made out her small shape against the backdrop of the hellwebs… she had something large and fuzzy taking up her hands. But Brainz would witness… she had more to spare: two sets of arms emerged from her torso, stretching out and relaxing afterwards.

“ _Phew!_ That was harder to hold than I thought: my arms are killing me.”

  


* * *

  


...He left…

 

Brainz turned around, slow and methodical: on a pivot. He turned his back to the entrance. And began walking.

 

He stopped, then bent over to pick up his things, then stood back up: and starting walking again.

 

So he took a step, and then another, and another, another one, and some more steps, and a couple more. Every step had a pause and a build up to it, his motion was jerky and stilted, like a robot. He looked as lifeless as one at least, never did he look anywhere but straight forward: and never did his facial expression change from its factory default, unassuming look.

 

His brain was defaulted again, incapable of processing more than one task at a time, lest he try to think… no no, there was no need for that. Just focus on walking. It was better, he would’ve probably hurt himself if he _did_ think about it. And now wasn’t a time to _dwell_ on what he probably didn’t see because of a trick of the light or a delusion of the senses.

 

 _ESPECIALLY_ not that little “gushy” thing that he did with that thing that probably didn’t exist. Because that would be _insane!_ Better he only think about moving his legs, not even where he was _going…_ the reason he went through that place?

 

Hmm though… you think the name “Muffet” is a coincidence? You know the nursery rhyme?  About spiders… “Little Miss Muffet etc” y’know: _Muffet,_ the name of that giant spider that saved your ass and you hugged like she was your long lost sister? That one...

 

Suddenly he stopped: he took a moment to wipe his nose, (Bleeding again) and to sniff the rest of it. He then moistened his lips, nodded afterwards… put his bag on the ground, casually. Then threw his head into his arms.

 **_“MMMMMMMMHMHMMHMMHMHMHMHMHFFFFFFFFFF!!!*# &#$^!!!<>:()”_ ** ****__  
  


That should do him for five minutes at least, he took a deep breath through his nose and parted his hair from his eyes , picked up his things and resumed walking normally… for about ten seconds until he stepped on something.

 

“What the?”

 

He looked down, the first of taking in where he actually was: his foot was planted on top of a large powdery mass on the floor. When he removed it, it kicked up some of the powder into a small cloud that dissipated into the air.

“What _is_ this stuff? Dust??”

 

It _looked_ like it, but it was so sparkly… almost like glitter, there was something poking out of the pile _too._ Brainz had less hesitation than he should’ve and dug it out, watching the dust pour out of it.

 

It looked like a knight helmet, belonging to a much larger suit of armor. He looked at it for a fair bit and squinted… then looked up.

“Wait a sec…”

 

He took a look at his surroundings, another four way junction. But forward he could see the familiar, cylindrical shape of the elevator, and even though the sign had gone dark.

**_R3_ **

 

Brainz lit up, back to his excitable demeanor.

“I’m at the other side!...”

 

But it wasn’t celebratory, his excitement. He was more intrigued yet confused than anything: because the helmet suddenly looked very familiar.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute, _wait a minute…_ this is one of those guys’ helmets, the big burly motherfuckers! Hold on…”

 

He took another look at the white pile and found another hint of metal hiding under it, he fished the second helmet out as well and held them both up.

“Yeah!... I remember those two guys… but-”

 

He couldn’t make any sense of the pile of dust or the missing head pieces, or the missing wielders.

“What’s… going on here?”

 

For some reason, he couldn’t tell why: but he had that cold slimy feeling creeping up his back; something was wrong… something besides him. But he didn’t want to linger on it, lest he burn anymore of his time. He made sure he could feel the handgun in his pocket, and he turned towards a set of stairs heading up, a less intense light was at the top. If he wasn’t mistaken, he was expecting to see a building called “MTT RESORT” at the top of them.

 

He put the strange feeling in the same place as the thing with the spiders (3 minutes on the grace period again, he may want to scream some more to get more time), discarded the helmets: and proceeded up the stairs with a stronger hint of caution.

 

“MTT, here it is…”

A moderately fancy building, enclosed in a relaxed kind of environment, laden with bricks: bushes and a gilded sign. At least he was finally back on track: Brainz looked around for anybody but himself: failed to, and made for the doors.

 

Finally, some good news.

 

He reached for the pull handle and-

 

**_“CONTACT!!!”_ **

 

An unforseen voice boomed from inside, laden with fury and assertion. Then, the consequence.

 

Gunfire tore into the world.

  


[ https://youtu.be/XdejQbtkEhQ ](https://youtu.be/XdejQbtkEhQ)

  


**42:34:35**

**42:34:34**

**42:34:33**

**...**

  



	5. .Ulterior Motives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like, what's the problem?  
> Aren't you like... SO hyped for the destruction of monsters? 
> 
> No?  
> Well you oughta be  
> It's your fault anyway.

“ _Holy_ **SHIT,** did that just fucking happen- **”**

Brainz fell against the rigid brick wall and began madly frisking himself, moving and acting like he’d been put on fast forward.

“- did I get _hit,_ oh god… I don’t _feel_ anything, I think I’m good- OK.”

 

He was as intact as he was moments ago. When a lack of bloody holes confirmed this, he did not spare any time to relax: instead grabbing for his gun. He heard his own frantic breaths and tried to hold them while he waited. He was like a windup toy held against its will and wound five times too much: the moment he would let go of himself, it was _go_ time.

 

The moments leading to this were just now playing back to him, it’d happened so fast that he’d nearly missed it, where his body decided what to do, not him.

 

* * *

 

He had just put his hand on the black handle of those swinging glass doors, where the golden glow of the lights within seeped through the translucent panes. Brainz had stopped looking at the doors and starting at what was behind them long before he heard the voice. If the remainder of a second counted as a "long time".

 

It was the gun he saw first, he recognized its iconic form immediately: **M16a2E4,** it had an ACOG scope mounted on top with a vertical foregrip affixed to the bottom. Almost the standard issue Assault Rifle for the US Armed Forces, only being phased out by the smaller **M4**.

 

Then came the person wielding it, that desaturated camouflage covering them from their armored helmets, under their flak vest, behind every one of their many pockets and pouches, and to the beige combat boots.

 

Finally, and the part he was having the most trouble with, he actually saw what the gun was pointed at: it _wasn’t_ him, it couldn’t have been. They had stood between him and the soldier, blocking his likeness from being spotted… at least he thought: there wasn’t much opportunity to analyze it before the deadly and precise rap of _short,_ **_controlled bursts,_ ** boomed from inside. His eyes had noticed the alleyway just to the right from his peripheral vision, and they told his legs to make for it, even before the last shot was fired.

 

Which is where he was now, devoid of any gunshot wounds and with his ears still ringing: holding his tiny gun close to himself, ready to put his entire life on the one bullet it held. He _had_ to breathe though, he couldn’t risk asphyxiating over his gasps being heard, and besides: on the off chance he _was_ spotted: it wasn’t like it would matter. His breaths became hushed and wheezy shouts. “ _Holy shit, holy shit-”_

 

A pained swallow and a gruff exhale, just for more to come.

“-fucking dragon guy got _lit_ **_UP!_ ** Holy fucking shit, _hoooley_ shit.”

 

He began to seize up, clenching everything as tight as it could go, his teeth audibly grinding against each other as he contracted in pain.

“ _How. The. FUCK. Did. You. Get. Here._ **_BEFORE ME?..._ ** ”

 

His voice broke down to a juvenile sounding gripe… but backed by such heartache, it wasn’t so immature but in pain.

“It’s not _fucking_ fair!!”

 

His small breakdown had to be put to a stop, the sound of footsteps crunching over glass grew in volume. He may have heard the sound of the door shattering, but it was overshadowed by the gunfire. From the sound of it, there were two sets of footprints, opposed to one. Even if he did manage a hit with his terribly outclassed gun: he’d be on his own for the second one presumably armed with another assault rifle.

 

Brainz stopped immediately and tried holding his breath once more, his shoulder was just at the edge of the alley without peeking out. He waited and waited, mind cleared: it _had_ to be: to be ready at the first sign of action. He waited as the sound of steps proceeded… then he heard the voice again,

 

The same one who had condemned that monster to die, only far less jarring than his call. He was _chuckling,_ an arrogant sounding laugh.

“You see the look on its face?

Fuckin Priceless!-”

 

The elusive second soldier didn’t say anything, leaving the first to his amusement: their footsteps came the closest they could to Brainz without showing attention to him, they were level with where he was hiding… and then they kept going, their sound began to shrink, letting the reverbs come in.

 

The sound of a radio crackling in broke the chain of footsteps, an indistinct voice coming in snippets, the static then ceased: as the first voice returned.

“-Negative, we didn’t find him: just another straggler: we took care of it- elevator is still sealed up tight, waiting for Kabou and his men to return from the **CORE,** over **-.”**

 

Some more indiscernible muttering from the device, then another pause in the static.

“Roger Wilco Sir. We’re on our way. Out.”

 

The way his voice then shifted, he was probably talking to his partner now, rather the people on the other end of his two way.

“Eniyae, they just secured level 2 right below us, Voodoo teams got into the outside lifts’ systems, they say they’re gonna restore them and that they want us to watch the one up here when they do, there’s a chance he’s hiding in one of them.”

 

Finally, the second soldier confirmed their existence by answering him.

“Then let’s get into position.”

 

The footsteps continued to dither away until they were nothing, and there was nothing. Nothing but an empty room, laden with death and broken glass. He waited for quite enough time before he even make so much as a peek, like always though: he was alone. Brainz let himself breath again, pushing all the carbon dioxide out with a drawn out sigh as he lowered his gun. He let himself lean against the cold bricks once more, slumping more than usual.

 

Under his breath, a low groan.

“What. Am I gonna do.

I don’t know…

They’re already here, I spend two days being continuously fucked by this world, and the real world comes behind to fuck me in my ass too… It took me two days to get here, and they’ve made it in a couple of hours…

And it’s the army, they’re better trained, better armed, outnumber me a hundred to one: and I’m their main objective… while the fucks who were trying to kill me before, are just in the way. Yet both are trying to kill me.”

 

A sharp breath.

“Fuck my life, just fuck it so hard… it just keeps getting _better._ Doesn’t it? There is no end.”

 

He felt almost lethargic, like he could’ve laid down in that dark secluded alley and never get back up. But he knew better, some force whether universal or himself would oppose to that… as for putting the gun in his mouth: he didn’t have an appetite for such. Why did Flowey have to depend on him? And why did he say “yes?” to him?

 

He sat against the wall and let it all fester. Between not wanting to go out in the open and risk being seen, versus every moment he wasted sitting in this alley for “Kabou” and his aforementioned team to return, he was between a rock and a hard place.

 

_Whatever happened to that stupid guard bitch with the jap cartoons? Whatever happened to her harassing him being his main concern? He KILLED her, that’s what happened. Because she wasn’t enough for him, the universe needed to up its game. After all, it would be “unfair” if Brainz actually felt he had a chance in this. He took this path, and this is exactly what he deserved… not so much every other mother loving bastard down here._

 

With the insurmountable _crushing_ burden of the world on him- _again,_ Brainz did what he did best and tucked it somewhere deep inside of him; he knew he pushed it far enough when he felt nauseous. He was reduced to a bitter sounding sigh, hissing as he glared at the ground.

“Well _this_ just got harder… I don’t even **_know_ ** what happened to Flowey, kid fucked off and left me to it, typical…”

 

But he realized the blame he was throwing onto him and reeled it back, almost sounding apologetic.

“ _No_ no… what am I saying: it’s not his fault, kid had issues enough before the goddamned military came down here… I just hope he’s alright- he’s been able to survive _these_ idiots just fine… but… it’s the fucking military…”

 

He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, feeling it scrape against his shredded throat.

“ _Please be alright…”_

 

His moment of downplayed anxiety was ended prematurely as something was caught in the corner of his eye, when it prompted him to look up; seeing a large grimy dumpster: he was taken more out of himself when he saw the slightly ajar lid clap shut, letting off a deep metallic noise.

 

Brainz nearly treated himself to a negligent discharge he put his finger on the trigger so quickly and pointed it at the container. When nothing else happened, he made instantaneous turns to the open area outside the alleyway, savvy to any kind of ambush in the making. But when he failed to see anybody, his attention went back to the dumpster… and he approached it gun first.

 

Then he heard someone inside: muffled by it: but just audible.

* * *

 

“- like, I think he totally _noticed_ us!”

Two people actually.

“Like, for _sure?_ I told you to not peek-!”

 

Two feminine sounding voices, a bit on the younger side: silently yelling at each other, their whispers doing the opposite of what whispers were meant for.

“-He’s gonna like _KILL_ us and stuff!”

“What if we offered all our stuff! That would work!”

“No way, this is like _our_ junk, besides: He’s totally one of those super _evil_ guys! He’s gonna do it for the fun of it, he’s probably like their _boss_ or something he’s so _ugly_.”

“He’s a weirdo too!, I saw him talking to himself-”

 

“I can **_hear_ ** you, y’know….”

Brainz found that he wasn’t so afraid of the dumpster now, more so unamused. He also found that the conversation coincidentally stopped abruptly. He would hear something inside shortly though, an actual attempt at a whisper.

 

“I think he’ll go away if we don’t make a noise!”

 

He had enough and placed his hand on the lid.

“ _All_ right, that’s enough of that.”

 

He lifted the thing up and to his expectation, he was met with two surprised yells and two more freaks of nature to look at.

 

A portly looking cat monster wearing overalls and a slender alligator with yellow curled hair. He muttered to himself, sneering.

“And they’re calling _me_ ugly.”

 

“Hey, she’s not ugly!”  
“Hey, she’s not ugly!”

 

Never minding the response he’d gotten in stereo form, he looked at both of them frankly, his head peering into the container with his arm locked: holding the lid wide open. His other hand held the gun still, his thumb was nervously playing with the cocking knob.

“What’re you two, _doing_ in there?”

 

They looked at him, they looked at each other: they looked all around: they did everything _except_ answering him. Just looking back at him like deer in headlights. Brainz felt his brows sinking as his patience really wasn’t there to keep them up.

“What, you’re not talking now? You’re makin fun of me behind my back but when I come up to you, you’re all of a sudden monks on an oath of silence? Well that’s not a very nice way to meet someon-”

 

It seemed he invoked an answer out of them with his slightly petty tangent, they gave each other a final look, seemingly agreeing on what they would do and they both spoke in perfect unison.

“I’m Bratty, this is my best friend Catty.”

“I’m Catty, this is my best friend Batty.”

 

Brainz felt one of his brows raising again.

“Uh, good for you? I really didn’t ask for your- _hold up.”_

He twisted around like an animal being spotted and looked to the outside world: he thought he’d heard something, but failed to see anything except the empty room. So he turned back and tried to return to normalcy.

“Sorry bout that, go ahead."

 

He didn’t actively provoke the next set of simultaneous lines.

“Like, Please don’t kill us

Please don’t kill us.”

 

“What why wou-”

 

“If you’re gonna kill us, like please spare her: take me instead.

“If you’re gonna kill us, like please spare her and- wait, no way! Kill me instead! Leave her alone!”

 

Out of that, they started fretting with each other over who should be the one offered to him for slaughter. Somehow they were able to communicate over each other like that, Brainz on the other hand couldn’t hear anything but incessant babbling.

 

“Alright, alright: _stop_ already! The fuck are you two talking about? You’re giving me a headache I can’t understand you.”

 

They stopped, and did that round of looking at each other again: as if they shared a brain and this was how one half communicated to the other, and once again: they answered him at the same time.

“Like, Please don’t kill us, _please?”_

“Please don’t kill either of us, we both like _love_ each other.”

 

Despite everything happening around, Brainz still took this personally. He was in the middle of a military operation set on genocide and search and destroy: but someone making a petty assumption out of him? Well that just tore it.

“You think… I want to _hurt_ you? That I’m going to kill you because you were making _fun_ of me?”

 

They both shook their heads at him just slightly.

“Then _what?!_ I want to know _why_ you think I _want_ to kill you.”

 

For once only one of them spoke, the alligator looking thing: “Bratty” sounded pretty unsure: with that question tone to her.

“Be-cuuzzzz…. You’rree like a human and stuff?”

 

Her best friend followed up.

“And like… you humans are killing everyone else?”

 

Of course, this was just _spectacular_ : Brainz was not one to care about being “politically correct” or “sensitive” to people. He felt that people complaining about “racism” were a bunch of pansies, the men needed to grow a pair and the women needed to get laid. Never did he think he was going to feel the alleged “wrong” that they felt. Well… here he was, being judged as a murderer because he was human, like the soldiers who also wanted him dead. Suddenly, everything he said about those people complaining about racism in the past crashed back into him. He was now a hypocrite in mimicking them.

 

“Because _all_ humans are the same: I see. Because we share that we actually look like we make sense, we must all be the same. I _totally_ see…

So what gave it away?The fact that I’m not wearing goddamned camouflage: or that you’re still talking to me instead of counting the holes in you?, **_OR_ ** the fact that _I’m_ hiding from them _too:_ is _that_ why I belong with _them??”_

 

Bratty looking like she was trying to compute the Lagrangian Method in her head and Catty looked like she was about to start crying.

 

Brainz still continued on his little rant, like he’d no other better things to do.

“So I guess it’d be fair to assume you two are in on it to kill me and steal my soul, I mean you _have_ to be because you’re freaks just like the ones that _do_ want to kill me, in _that_ case: I’d have a reason to want you dead, and I’d be _justified…_ but _that_ would be wrong because generalizing all of you is a real scummy thing!”

 

He wasn’t serious when he brought up the conspiracy idea, while he was sure most of the monsters down here wanted him dead; not everything goes without a hitch… some people like the Temmies really didn’t go with it. Brainz just wanted these two uninformed girls to hear what it sounded like being on the other end of the stick. It didn't feel very nice.

He finished by giving them something short of a penance stare, glaring into both of them one by one.

 

“ _Ssoo_ like… are you going to kill us or not?"

Bratty said it, her friend just looked to Brainz wanting the same answer.

 

Brainz groaned exasperatedly, almost dropping the lid: his eyes rolled around and didn’t come back to staring at the two.

“ _No!_ I’m not! I’m trying to save my ass: just like _you two_ I presume-”

 

He unknowingly derailed himself from being too angry, because he just thought of something that brought him from his irritation to a more inquisitive tone.

“Actually… I’m a bit surprised you two are doing as well as you are-”

 

The fact that nobody checked the dumpsters for _him_ of all people, the guy who could spend three days without leaving a dumpster…

 

“-congratulations you two, you’ve outsmarted the United States Armed Forces-”

 

Now they were both terribly confused, it didn’t help that Brainz went from being angry, to annoyed, and now he was smiling at them and sounding sarcastic.

“- don’t suppose you got room for one more in there?”

 

They didn’t say _anything._ Their eyes couldn’t widen anymore, if he could read their expressions they would say something like: _This guy is totally freaking me out._ Brainz should’ve known better than to expect them to laugh at it. His own smile faded.

“It’s a joke, _laugh_ a bit.”

He sounded more threatening than anything.

 

They didn’t. Why would they? The creepiest bastard they were ever going to meet was harassing them while the military was treating them like terrorists. He stopped trying and realized he was wasting his time, he couldn’t used this time to creep away while the soldiers were occupied.

“Whatever, I’m gonna get outta here, you two have fun sitting in garbage, I’m out and- hey… what’s that?”

 

So, these two girls weren’t alone in the dumpster, of course it was full of trash: strangely inoffensive smelling trash. Empty wrappers and partially filled plastic bottles and such: but what took his attention was something sticking out from under Catty’s rear. It looked like a curved grip, like it belonged to a gun. He went strangely calm and focused, contingencies and instincts playing in his head like a flipbook.

“Whatchu got there, sticking out under your ass?”

 

They looked at each other, it would-

“Fatty, I’m talkin to _you,_ what’re you sitting on."

 

The poor thing broke out in red, her eyes widened too. Her friend found the gall to be pissed at him.

“Like what the H, dude?! _Not_ cool!!"

 

Brainz sneered at her, quick on his temper."

“You started it, you called me ugly!... and _weird!”_

 

They were at an impasse, Bratty was content to comfort her friend while making the absolute of stink eyes at him, while Catty looked hurt on an incomprehensible level.

“Don’t listen to him, he’s not even like them: he’s just a **_jerk,_ ** you look _awesome-”_

 

He didn’t _have_ to take this: he could’ve just up and left or reached in and taken it, he _did_ have a gun too, but Brainz could never do it the easy way…

“- bet he doesn’t even have a best bestie like I do-”

* * *

 

Brainz dropped the lid, minding the noise it would make at the last second and using his fingers as a buffer as it slammed shut on them. The pained noise he made went synonymous with the aggravated grunt. He took a couple of deep breaths, checked to see if he was still alone: and then he opened the lid again.

“What do **_you_ ** want, now?”

 

_Can’t believe I’m doing this, jfc…_

 

Another inhale through his nose.

“I’m _sorry- OK?…_ I would lie and say I forgot your name already but the truth is, you hurt _my_ feelings with what you said about me and I… I thought I would make myself feel better by doing the same to you, but two wrongs don’t make a right…”

 

He sighed.

“Aaand I’m sorry: to be honest, I think you both look kind of adorable together: _I’m_ the ugly one… inside and out. So I’m the _last_ person to say anything about anybody. Do with that what you want, believe it or not… I don’t care… I’m just as wound up as you are.”

 

Don’t even ask how much of that was genuine, he didn’t even know. What he did know, or what he wondered was if he looked as pathetic as he felt.

 

Catty seemed to stop feeling self aware of herself, while her friend took a little more time before shrugging and easing off of him.

“Hmph”

“Well like, that’s OK: we didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

 

Brainz saw the opportunity to disregard himself and took it, really trying to lower himself off his high post: down to their level.

“It’s fine… If _I_ had to hide in a dumpster because some assholes invaded my home, I’d have some choice things to say about them too… besides: what you said was all true… I _am_ an ugly weirdo.”

 

Strangely, the one he upset seemed quick to try to rebuke him, Bratty on the other hand was still skeptical of him. Catty took him at face value though.

“Oh no, don’t be like that to yourself dude.”

“...”

 

“He said he was sorry, Bratty I don’t think he’s _that_ bad after all.”

“...”

 

Bratty took some more moments to think about something, but then she finally looked him in the eye without trying to turn him to stone. She didn’t sound any bit concerned with him anymore.

“So, you’re _not_ with… what did you call them? The “Army Forces?””

 

He wasn’t offended by it anymore and sought to answer her honestly, without prejudice, even shaking his head.

“No, I’m not with them at all: to them, I’m just as much as a monster as all of yous… they’ll shoot me all the same: that, I swear.”

 

“Hmm… and what do you want the gun for?”

 

She unknowingly confirmed the thing he wanted to see tucked under her friend _was_ a gun.

“So that _is_ a gun.”

 

Bratty realized this, ultimately she went with it.

“ _Yes…_ it is.”

 

Without further words, Catty shifted herself to free the thing and her friend brought it up, holding it up for all to see.

 

In her scaly clutches, it was some kind of revolver: looked old as hell not to mention Brainz could tell that it was in terrible condition just from a glance. His “expertise” didn’t cover revolvers too well, the number of models for the classic wheelguns that he knew; he could count on one hand. Despite all that though? It was a gun, an actual gun and he was nothing short of  astounded to actually _find_ a gun down here, at least not in the hands of a soldier pointed at him.

“Where’d you even _get_ that?”

 

Bratty still seemed reluctant to really trust him, shifting her eyes at him.

“Well that would be giving-”

 

Catty on the other hand.

“We found it in the garbage.”

Her friend looked at her in such a way, she made a nervous laugh, but again: Bratty went with it and finished for her.

“In Waterfall…”

 

Brainz squinted.

“Waterfall?... wait- you mean you found it in the _dump? That_ waterfall?"

 

“Totally.”  
“Yep, pretty much.”

 

He was taken back a bit.

“No _kidding… huh,_ the shit that ends _up_ down here... I wonder if I looked a little harder, I wouldn’t have had to settle on a baseball bat… I probably could’ve found a _bazooka_ or something-"

Then a mutter to himself, not audible to the two monsters in the rubbish container.

"-well someone's gonna find a broken shotgun in there now."

 

“Oh,You’ve like, been there before?”

“Is that why you smell so bad?”

 

Yes, and _probably_ yes: but the smell could’ve been the blood, or the terror sweat, _or…_ and Brainz didn’t notice for a the longest time: after the momentary lapse of terror in that place he still chooses to forget: his crotch was damp. He’d partially pissed himself. He sounded a trifle disappointed.

“ _Yeah,_ that smell ain’t comin off of me anytime soon, is it? But anywho… can I see that gun?”

 

Brainz half reached his free hand to grab it, he stopped: half because he still had a gun in that hand, and also because Bratty pulled their gun away.

“You gotta buy it first.”

 

“You’re kidding me…”

 

“Like, nope! Right Catty?”

“Uh, yeah: nope!”

 

Brainz didn’t want to think of this any more himself, but it seemed like they weren’t thinking about it _enough._

“You realize you’re being invaded… and you’re still trying to _haggle???_ Don’t take this the wrong way: but are you two outta your fuck’n minds?”

 

They were right back at him with remarks, Bratty being the more precise one.

“Like what’s it to-ya? Our business is our business.”

But her friend was more honest, with less prejudice: more concern.

“What do you want it for, anyway?”

 

He didn’t even have to ponder it to himself, there was no question. She _knew_ what he _wanted_ it for, considering they knew what a gun even was… especially with the little show that happened just outside of the alleyway… but Brainz didn’t feel all to compelled to tell that truth, he picked at the technicalities to beat around the bush.

“I just wanna see it, is all.”

But that didn’t seem to do any good for him, Bratty repeated herself.

“You can _see_ it when you like… _buy_ it- that’s how it works if you don’t know.”

 

Even her friend felt the edge on that, silently anxious.

“Bratty!...”

Brainz didn’t pick into it though… he pissed the alligator looking thing off when he called her friend “fat”, he didn’t expect to be forgiven for that… all he could do was let her be. Talking about her policy though… he sighed, unamused and irritated: but accepting.

“Kay, fine. How much is it?”

 

He knew before asking that, that it wouldn’t even matter: he hadn’t a cent on him, hell: he barely had any money in his wallet that mysteriously disappeared when he fell down here… usually he “bought” things using guns, sometimes trading lead for whatever goods he desired… only if the clerk made sudden movements or tried to pull a fast one…

 

“350G”

“Yeah, three-fifty…”

 

“Three hundred and fifty **_dollars??_ ** You gotta be kidding me.”

 

“Like, nope! And also, whats a “dollars”? We don’t take whatever _human_ money you have.”

“We only accept G down here.”

 

Now he was mad, it didn’t even matter what “G” could’ve possible been, unless it was as valuable as pre-WW2 Democratic Reichsmarks where 350 of them would buy you a loaf of bread, this was way to fucking much.

“That’s insane! I wouldn’t pay Three-Fifty for that even if it actually _worked!”_

 

“It works _fine,_ uh, **_actually._ ** ”

“What makes you think it doesn’t work?”

 

No no no, this wasn’t happening. These two teenagers were _not_ arguing about guns with Brainz. Even though it was a revolver, he was still _far_ more educated on its workings than they were. There was no way in hell they were fooling him.

“Huh, let’s see: just from _looking_ at it, that thing is more rust than gun: I doubt you two knew to properly clean and lubricate it. And you found it in the trash, for all I know there could’ve been a _reason_ someone threw it away-”

 **Lie.**  To Brainz: there was _never_ a reason to throw away a gun… unless you were trying to get away with a murder, but that was a sloppy work regardless. And also, why would you punish the gun for doing its job? Brainz respected guns more than he did _people._

As for his shotgun? Well _that_ was different, for sure… there were…. **_Exceptions._ ** So it didn’t count.

 

“- but if you want _basic_ terms: it doesn’t even have _bullets!_ In fact… do you even _know_ what you’re supposed to chamber that thing with??”

 

Bratty only scoffed at him, pushing one of her curls out of her face.

“Pfft, like: you don’t need _bullets,_ why would you use _bullets_ on a gun?”

Her friend didn’t add to the argument, but _Brainz_ sure did: the nonsense he witnessed transcended into “bullshit” and it set him off.

 

“ ** _What?!_** The BULLETS are the things the guns SHOOT! Without them, it's a freakin $350  _ **paperweight!"**_

 

Bratty blew a raspberry at him, quite childishly.

“Shows how much you humans know about bullets.”

 

He lost it, sarcasm coated every word that spewed out.

“What- you telling me guns just **_magically_ ** make things dead? That they’re powered by **_Magic?!_ ** ”

 

“Oh so you _do_ know how guns work, then like, what's with your deal with what you said about  **bullets?"**

“You must be the first human who gets it right!"

 

They were dead serious.

 

Brainz quaked some, he got all twitchy: but all the tension found an escape and he sighed it all out. It wasn’t worth flipping his lid, trying to reason with monsters on the fundamentals of combustion and _physics-_

 

Physics, like _those_ mattered down here.

 

-of all things, was a lost cause. He needed to get on with this, and get on his way before he hemorrhaged anymore of his damn time.

 

“Yeah, sure: haha, silly me whatever- **_can I have the damn gun or not?_ ** ”

 

“Three- **fifty.”**

“Um like, can I ask why you want it so badly? It’s not like you need it, or anything: you did just fine beating up our captain without it.”

 

Of course they weren’t going to let that go, Because Brainz needed to be reminded of that, every waking moment… but the cat was wrong: he had a _hell_ of a time with the blue broad, even when he _had_ a shotgun, and even when he set her on fire.

 

But why did he want it so badly? Especially because he was so quick to outline why it probably wouldn’t work… Brainz had a better chance of explaining this place than he did explaining to himself why he was making such a deal over it.

 

…

 

“How about a trade then.”

 

 

> Tʜᴇ ɢᴜɴ ғᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʟɪᴠᴇꜱ.

No… not that.

 

“Well… what would you even have that we’d want?”

“I mean we’ve been in this dumpster for a while, we ate all our junkfood…”

 

“You got any Glamburgers on you?”

“OMG, I would give _anything_ for one of those right now.”

 

_The fuck is a glamburger?_

“I _wish_ I had food on me: but let me see what I’ve got.”

 

He knew he didn’t have much, even less: stuff he would actually part with.

A 30 Round Box Magazine for the MAC-10 Machine-Pistol.

“Uhh, no thanks…”  
“What even _is_ that?”

 

A handful of Cherry Bombs, M80’s: mutant firecrackers. His last quarter stick of dynamite.

“I don’t think so, we’re trying to hide: not make more noise.”  
“Gawd, what do you even _do_ with so many of those?”

He certainly didn’t get them for the 4th of July…

 

But that was really it for his stuff, everything else he kind of _needed_ … but hold up: he patted himself to look for anything else and found more pockets bulging than flat.

 

The hand grenade was there, so was his lighter. But what was the crinkly thing?

 

“Ohhh… shit, I _forgot:_ I swiped this weird japanese thing from her (Undyne’s) house.”

 

In fact, he also had the Temflakes he wasn’t going to touch: he did reserve them for Flowey but… did plants even eat candy? He had no idea where _he_ went off to.

 

Brainz had _another_ idea though, perhaps one of the most bold and quickest concluded ones. He squared his look.

“What about _this?”_

 

He’d all but forgotten he was holding a loaded handgun just out of view, he brought it into view and brandished it for the two to see.

 

The looks on their faces, like they were sitting on beds of spikes.

“Uhh, like, what’s _that??”_

 

That tone, she already made an assumption of what it was: and did not like it. Catty hadn’t gotten there yet.

“Is that a like a toy gun?”

 

Brainz smirked and shook his head.

“Nope, it’s very real and very loaded.”

 

“Are you like… **_robbing us??”_ **

“He _is????”_

 

Just like that, they were both brought back to the fear they had for Brainz when he first opened the lid, before he cleared up how inconsistent he was. They could’ve been a given at this point, he tells them something like **“Give me the gun, or I’ll make you decide who dies.”** Then he would shoot the person who wasn’t supposed to die. He was like that. That’s how it would’ve went, you kill people with their love for each other… what else would you expect from a bad guy like him?

* * *

 

“What?... Oh no! No no no!-”

It should be given at this point: never assume anything out of Brainz. When he brandished that gun of his to them, robbing them was the _last_ thing on his mind, it didn’t even occur to him until he saw their dismayed faces and when it did; the thought of it made him recoil.

“- I was just _showing_ it! No _no_ **_no!_ ** It’s alright! It’s OKAY… It’s Ok-”

 

Brainz was panicking more than the alleged people he pointed a gun at; but when he saw them begin to calm down, he was able to follow and regain some of his composure.

“- I’m not, going to rob you… I was just-”

 

Clearing his throat and bringing the gun out again, making damn sure to finally honor his embedded gun safety, finger away from the trigger, cocking knob disengaged, and pointed very away from any living thing.

“- just showing you, _my_ gun.”

 

He tried to look casual, but the sweat beading down his head was a dead giveaway, it wasn’t even all for this little fail, the firsthand experience of the invasion had brought him just a few steps closer to the edge. He tried to bring things back to normal and reinstated what he wanted to do.

“Trade my _working-uh,_ my _clean_ and “sorta” used gun for yours… how about it?”

 

It took a good bit before the two stopped staring at him like he’d just taken his head off his shoulders. But following some exchanged glances to each other, a mutual nod marked that they would reply. Catty started.

“You want to trade your weird little gun for _this_ one?”  
“Doesn’t look like much of a fair trade if you ask me, it’s so _small.”_

 

Brainz wanted to tell them how size was so very inconsistent when it came to guns. How this tiny thing held a 45 Caliber round: more stopping power than many larger handguns, even some shotguns. But he knew they wouldn’t understand, that was OK though, because he didn't understand why he wanted _this_ gun instead of his, he was too busy thinking of how to sweeten the deal.

 

“How about I sweeten the deal then?”

 

He shifted his gun arm to prop the lid open with his elbow, his newly freed hand brought out the two bags from his coat pockets. He unfastened the one with its shoelace drawstring and let the girls see the colorful candies inside while the weird foreign snack back peeked from behind.

“These Temflakes are actually _really_ good, like fruity pebbles if you know what those are… as for the japanese candy, I have no idea. Wasabi chips or something, I dunno.”

 

He got them now, on the narrow list of things he knew like the back of his hand: the hungry look in their eyes was easily distinguishable, if he’d played at it some more, he could probably broker the deal with the food alone… but he wasn’t going to spare the time or energy to do that.

“All this stuff for that crappy cowboy gun.”

 

The term came to him when he saw a grimy looking cowboy hat in the one corner of the dumpster.

 

The girls had to ponder it over with each other, they both made at least half a dozen looks at the food in his hand-”

“Kay”

“You got a deal, _GIMME_ the food!”

 

“Girl, we’re _sharing_ that, remember?”

“ _Mine!”_

 

They swiped the food from his hands, remembered the gun came with them too and took it with less enthusiasm, and finally: the empty gun was now in Brainz’s possession.

“Nice…”

 

But before he could really gander at his new toy, he couldn’t help but notice the near ravenous bites the girls were taking of the candy. There was no more benefit to him appealing to them, but he couldn’t help but speak up.

“Hey hey _hey_ there… slow _down…_ you’re gonna give yourselves a stomach ache!-”

 

Catty stopped for just a moment to look at him, mouth full: making a questioning grunt.

(What’s a stomach?)

“-eh, nevermind.”

 

He brought his attention to the revolver: the familiarity it had to it only increased as he got a closer look at it. The details were hiding under the layer of grime that complimented the rust: but a small blot of non bloody spit on his sleeve actually cleared some of it.

**_Smith and Wesson_ **

 

“Jackpot.”

 

That was the word he was looking for, well: either that or **_Colt,_ ** because he _knew_ the familiar feeling had a reason, and seeing that word branded on the bottom of the grip allowed him to cut to the chase.

 **_Smith and Wesson Model 1917 Army Revolver: Chambered for 45 Caliber rounds._ ** The very same rounds Brainz had in abundance… well _almost._ He remembered that this gun came with accessories, mainly flat metal dohickeys called “Moon clips” or “Half moon clips” that not only allowed someone to reload much faster than inserting each individual bullet into the cylinder, but they assisted the ejector in removing the empty cases. He had no reason to assume Bratty and Catty found any moonclips, or even knew to distinguish them from the rest of the trash. This wasn’t _too_ much of an issue though: S&W had built the revolver the “right” way from the get-go, and unlike the Colt variant: 45. ACP rounds could be reliably fired without the use of moonclips… he would just need to fidget with the gun to eject the casings.

That is… if the gun actually worked.

 

There was quite some resistance from the release button before it finally gave and unlocked the cylinder. The cylinder itself was stiff as all hell, and he needed to thwap it with his palm to swing it out from the frame. The poor gun was thirsty as hell for oil and begging for a cleaning. The wheel absolutely did _not_ want to spin, the trigger took so much force to press it that his finger would turn white from the pressure. As for the hammer?

* **_ca-lick*_ ** _(It cocked)_

 **_*KLAKK!*_ ** _(It dry fired)_

 

His thumb was going to blister if he had to do that any more.

 

Brainz made a quick glance at the monsters: they were too busy sucking down the candy and trying to tear the other plastic bag open to notice what he would do next. Good, it would only confuse them.

 

He brought the one weapon magazine out from his pants pocket, the “Pez Dispenser” for bullets, pressing on them as they rose to the top until six of them were freed. Brainz then slotted them into the corresponding slots in the gun. Ensuring they were all the way in and then closing it up with another click. There were no glaring issues guaranteeing that this wouldn’t work, but at the same time… he hadn’t too much confidence that it _would_ work.

 

Well, he could’ve aimed at the floor and tested it…

No, that was a _terrible_ idea: everyone in the area would _hear_ it even if it _did_ work! He was just going to have to find out in the field, at least there if it didn't work: he'd only have the rest of his life to dwell on it. 

 

As he tucked the magazine back into his pocket, he almost pricked his finger on the screwdriver that shared it: it was out of a job now, considering how much he’d planned to use it as an ejector for the gun he just traded… well _that_ was a waste of time and in no way benefited him at all. Then again… he had one more “stabby” thing now, it could go right into a man’s throat if up close… and hey: if the M1917 did work as he planned, he wouldn’t have to be up close to use it. He had fair 20/28 Vision and good aim, any faults with his line of fire would be at the gun's discretion, not his.

 

The revolver though, it felt _much_ better to hold than the FP-45 ever did, it was heavier and still felt powerful despite being the same caliber and how old it was… but then again: the flare projector was never intended by him to be used as a weapon, it was only meant for suicide… if this revolver didn’t work… no actually: Brainz still had a grenade in his pocket. Didn’t matter what he promised to Flowey, he wouldn’t get to use it on Asgore if he was incapacitated anyway.

 

Well… that was that, Brainz found a good pocket for the gun and he tucked it away, officially inaugurating it with a couple of reassuring pats to the pocket.

* * *

 

“So… are you two going to be alright in there?”

He knew in long term that they hadn’t the smallest chance in hell, but asking felt obligatory; it was more of a consolation prize that he showed sympathy for them especially trying to consider the wear he put on them firsthand.

 

The two monsters had completely cleaned out the bag of candies and were finishing off the weird snacks. They looked up at him while cleaning the crumbs off their faces.

“We’re doing a little bit better, that you brought food: like, thanks.”

“Yeah, thanks: like: sorry we thought you were a bad guy.”

 

Then Bratty actually agreed with her friend and tacked on afterwards, admittingly.

“ _Yeaah_  I guess so too _…_ you just really _looked_ like one at first, but you really aren’t.”

 

Brainz shook his head firmly.

“No. Don’t even. I _am_ a bad guy, if it wasn’t for these assholes-”

 

Gesturing out to the open, still no one there.

“-then you’d hate me all the same as everyone else.”

 

“What? Are you for real? You’re like, the _best_ human we’ve seen! **_You_ ** don’t even… I think we know how we feel about you, am I right?”

“Well… _yeah…_ I mean, you were _kinda_ mean: but you’re only a human, you can’t help it I think.”

 

They looked at him with such sympathy, if he’d known better: it would’ve looked like pity. But then the Cat looked to her friend.

“Y’know, Bratty? Even though the green guys really suck… I’m having second thoughts of the “Destruction of Humanity” that would mean everyone, even humans like _him…_ I feel like… not good.”

 

“It’s alright, I felt the same way-”

 

She looked at Brainz.

“-It was easy to think _all_ humans were bad, especially with how they’re like… _y’know._ But when someone like you comes by… I don’t know now, are there like… _more_ people like you on the surface?”

* * *

 

Now _why_ did she have to ask him that? Of all the damn things… it would’ve been better if she went back to hating him for making fun of her friend. And Brainz… he wasn’t innocent: he got himself into this, with him blubbering up and **_apologizing_ ** and actually **_caring_ ** … goddammit.

 

All she did was prove what he just said: they didn’t know what they were talking about, they literally had no idea _who_ they were talking to. Brainz certainly wasn’t going to inform them either, but he shouldn’t have to.

 

What was he supposed to do now? Of _course_ there were more people like him on the surface, that’s all there was in the world to him: scumbags, liars, and murderers with shark grins on their deceitful faces. At the same time, he was his own kind of evil: seldom a person would peak in their infamy to come close to what he did.

But no… she wasn’t referring to the real him… she was under the impression he was a “good guy” What would he do? _Lie?_ Because that did nothing but _“good”_ for him so far. There would always be a catch to whatever he said, whichever choice he had to settle on. Brainz found, however: that he didn’t like any of the two answers and opted something a bit different.

 

He forced himself to make a sarcastic little “heh” while blowing from his nose. A fraudulent grin soon followed along with a phlegmatic tone to his voice.

“Give me an _easy_ one, why dont’cha?”

 

Their looks changed, but he accounted for this.

“What I mean is, this one… you can’t get this one right, “yes” ain't gonna cover it, and “no” would just be a big fat lie… but to give you everything else:

I don’t think there’s a single human in the world that’s _just like me._ Up top?-”

 

He pointed up.

“-s’full of sickos and lazy eyed murderers who’d kill ya in a heartbeat, no mercy, no _nothin._ And then you got good kids… **_innocent_ ** kids- they don’t deserve it one bit, they don’t deserve none of it-”

 

He noticed the way his voice deviated that he was on the brink of a confusing tangent, he caught himself and shook the thought from his head, returning his gaze to them.

“- what I’m try’n to say is: It’s not that easy. I can’t answer it with a straight face… up there? It’s kill or be killed… you get what I’m sayin’?”

 

He gave an earnest, empathetic look to them. One that if you picked out all the hidden meanings would tell you: “I know what this feels like, it’s my life that’s trickling down here.” But this wasn’t about him, he’d already taken so much attention already.

 

“I… I think so…”

“And we always thought the surface was like a beautiful place, like a dream just outside of _our_ world.”

 

“... it used to be one for me too…”

 

They looked at him questioningly, he shifted back.

“Nothing, nothing: just uh, talking to myself…”

 

And he looked back at them, not as the monsters they were: not for their looks. But as people, and how they _changed._ These weren’t kids anymore, they could’ve been for all he knew when he first came here… but now they weren’t. He’d spoon fed them a cold dose of the real world, its unforgiving and frigid nature extinguishing the warm and fuzzy innocent that resided inside. He did it to everyone, to Flowey, to the kid he traumatized, and he even did it to the like of Undyne before he slew her… too little too late.

 

And just like those, he let the inevitable after-thought fester in his brain. “What’s the point? It won't matter in the end… all it’ll do is make them a little more miserable before they die.” There was nothing he could do, they were already dead.

“Well… I better… I better be on my way-”

 

Reluctance bled into his voice, he didn’t want to venture into the unknown, now that he got a glimpse of the boogeymen who patrolled it: but he was more unwilling to leave these two alone, fish in a barrel… staring _down_ the barrel… but again, there was nothing he could do. Taking them with him was suicide, staying here was the same.

“-best of luck, you two…”

 

“You too.”  
“Like, see ya.”

 

He turned away from them and slowly brought the dumpster lid to rest, meticulously as to not bear a single sound, lest he disturb the world further. He braced himself for whatever could happen, gun sitting in his pocket, and he stepped out of the alleyway…

Only to turn right back around and lift the lid back up, those two big sets of eyes looking right back into his.

 

“Wait, before I go… that gun: the one I gave you.”

 

He let Catty clumsily handle the “too small” thing in her big paws: it could fit into one of them.

“What about it?”

“You don’t want it _back_ do you?”

 

Brainz shook his head.

“No, in fact: I actually _want_ you to have it, because…”

 

They looked at him, confused.

“- _because…_ *it’s* a _special_ gun actually, we know how guns work… but this one is different, that’s why it looks so _weird…_ and that’s why I started that nonsense about “bullets” yeah… this gun is different.”

 

He jumped to conclusions and white little lies, but he had a plan, a reason for them: and they would not benefit him in any way… any _probable_ way. Bratty took the gun from her friends hand and really inspected it, even looking at it through the business end which caused a heart palpitation in Brainz.

“What’s so _different_ about it though?”

 

He resisted the urge to yell and snatch the gun away from her before she would blow her own brains out. And spoke encouragingly, almost fanatical.  
“ _This_ gun is one of the **_strongest_** guns in the world, it is _so_ powerful that they made it so you could only shoot it _once-”_

 

They were still kids, that awe that fell on them, that wonder.

“Wowww… really??”

“Is that really true?”

.

“- that’s right, so you know how humans are much stronger than monsters and all? Well this gun will kill _any_ human with just one shot, it doesn’t need to be by another human either, _any_ monster can do it!”

 

He didn’t know whether to believe what he had read about monsters and humans so far, but he did believe what he was saying because it was the truth: just spruced up and sugarcoated to fit their customs.

 

They believed him all right, the wonder they shared was downright adorable… it made him feel sick.

 

“Whooa… that is like… _insane!_ And you haven’t used it yet?”

“Where did you even _get_ this?”

 

Brainz didn’t mean to ignore Catty completely, but he couldn’t be derailed right now: his mind was affixed to the one track he was building, fabricated from rails made of logic and ties made of nonsense.

“ _Nope!_ Still unused… so, you know how guns work: you have to pull the trigger on this one, and it’ll make a really loud noise and it’ll kick you… yeah yeah, y’know.”

 

And then he stopped smiling and sounding so chipper, and got down to the brass tacks.

“When I’m gone… and if they find you, if a “green guy” peeks into this lid… as soon as you see the whites in his eyes, pull that trigger on him: you’ll kill him instantly…”

 

He knew they would widen their eyes at him, he knew what he just said: but he also knew what they needed to hear.

“- don’t think it’s murder… don’t think you didn’t give him a chance: he’d kill you just the same, and you’re just defending ourselves… each other. If you have the gun, Bratty: shoot the son of a bitch for Catty, and if _you_ have it: shoot that motherfucker in the face, don't let him take you away from each other… don't you fucking let him."

His speech became almost systematic, like his own subconscious reading the forumated plan to himself.

 

“But the gun, it's gonna make a noise, and it's gonna be  **_loud,_ ** and that human will most likely not be alone… those green men are _cowards_ and hide in groups, you shoot him: and his friends will be coming. The gun? It’ll be useless, throw it away, don’t try to use it again: you’ll just waste your time: but **_don’t_ ** worry! Every one of these humans is carrying _bigger_ guns on them, none as powerful as mine, but still strong enough to fight them. If you manage to kill him and get the guns off of his body: you two should be able to ride this out **_just fine…”_ **

 

He stopped talking and let it set in for them as he panted from the quick and breathless speech. It was another fantastic story forged from him, and sealed with a big fat lie. He knew they wouldn’t be fine, he knew it would most certainly end violently and quickly… but that was the point: to make it swift. He couldn’t tell them how to end it on their own terms. But he could give them hope… _false_ hope, but still hope nevertheless so they didn’t need to suffer until the moment came.

 

“Do you have all that, or do you need me to repeat anything, because I _will,_ I won’t mind at all.”

 

He was hurried and eager to finish this and leave before they could risk poking holes at it in front of him.

 

“So wait… you have a gun that can kill humans with just _one_ attack, even from like… a _monster.”_

“And you just, want to _give_ it to us? Even for something _weaker?_ ”

 

Well of course when you put it that way, Brainz either looked insane or altruistic. He was a solid “yes” on the first one, but not the latter: he just wanted to give them a _chance…_ if anything stuck from the horrible nightmare he’d just recovered from, it was the fact that he’d been given a _chance_ of all things.

“It’s OK, really it is: _I’m_ uh, human: so I can make do with just about anything, and like, _guns?_ Well turns out humans can use just about _any_ gun to kill _other_ humans… I know, it’s insane: but that’s how the world is.”

 

The sweat peeked from under his ragged hair, and he pressed his lips together: stopping himself from making it anymore convoluted, he only defaulted his gaze and nodded at them as to say.

“It’s strange, but it’s the truth.”

And this would be the truth that counterbalanced all the lies.

 

Bratty brought back the piercing gaze to him, like they didn’t get passed it. But what she said couldn’t be any further ahead of where they were. It was without ridicule, without judgement, no joy or prejudice. The most honest question she ever asked to the king of liars.

“You’ve killed other humans in the past, haven’t you?”

“Bratty!!”

“No! No… I’m not like… trying to say anything about you, but is that how you know how guns work? In fact… is that why you’re here?”

“Bratty, that’s… like…”

 

Brainz came in.

“It’s the truth…”

 

Catty gasped, covering her mouth with both of her furry appendages. But her friend, already figured it out, and she didn’t look at him any differently for it.

“And that’s why they want to kill you too, because you killed other humans… you really _are_ nothing like what we know about humans… a human who fights against other humans…”

 

Catty came in, her belated understanding of this came in the form of a candid interjection.

“You’re like… a _monster!_ A monster with a human’s SOUL!”

“My gahd… he _is-_ you _are_ more like a monster than a human- that’d be why you said there’s no one else _like_ you!”

 

He’d been called a monster so many times in his life, but never by an _actual_ monster… at least not in a way they _meant_ it, instead of being misinformed. Suddenly: the term became a mess of ambiguity and unsureness. In that moment, comparisons failed to come to terms: every comment and thought of how far he was from being like any other human in the world. The alienation, the _damnation…_ they lost their edge, they lost their meaning. Because now, it would swing the opposite way. Every quip and damning remark now told him he had more in common with the creatures underground than he had with his own species.

 

It was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard in his entire life, at the same time: if it was anymore apt, it wouldn’t been a conspiracy. Brainz couldn’t control the muscles on his face, he felt his lips curling from side to side and the breaths cutting up and coming out of him. He was laughing… _actually_ laughing: because it was _actually_ funny. He almost dropped the lid, he had to bend over and place a hand over his convulsing gut. He couldn’t even say four words without a chuckle intermingling in his sentence.

“I have _never-_ heard _anything_ like that before! My god! But it makes _so_ much sense- that I can’t even say you’re wrong!”

 

And he wheezed with more laughter, it triggered some particularly ragged and bloody coughing, but even _that_ didn’t damper him.

“Hoo man… I needed that! You two-”

 

And he said this with humor.

“- you two are _crazy,_ I’m outta here.”

 

He let the lid close again, still snickering to himself as he made himself walk away, Back into the world, into the fray: a new contestant for this one sided war, worth extra points for sure. Standing out in the open like a turkey leg on a rope… he remembered what just happened here: and remembered just how dangerous this room was… and the joyful moment was over.

“I’m _gone.”_

 

He made for the resort.

 

**42:12:09**

**42:12:08**

**42:12:07**

**...**

 


	6. .Relatable Circumstances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Why do I always get the freaks?)  
> (I can't go to hell, I'm all out of vacation days)
> 
> You can always go on sabbatical...

“Alright… here we go- baby steps: do it cautiously, do it slow… know where you’re gonna run if you see anybody-”

 

Brainz contained his thoughts to a low whisper, he found himself squeezing the tarnished leather handle of the revolver like a rope over a cliff: his lifeline. He pressed himself against the new brick facade of the building's entrance and tilted himself while holding the gun to his sternum; arms folded. Just to take a peek inside.

 

From his one window, he could see a crude, egotistical fountain in the center of the lobby: it looked like a TV remote with arms, or some reference to a cheap, low budget children’s mascot. It had a stream of water coming from its….”mouth” he assumed, looked like the water pressure was just a tad too high, overshooting the pool and making huge puddle in the floor. Behind it, down a long red carpet was another set of glass doors: synonymous with the path on his personal map: the entrance to the core, he even saw a sign designating it as such in large neon letters. Brainz could also see a reception desk of sorts, even another set of doors marked by another “ **MTT”** paired with a picture of a hamburger.

“-some kind a… burger joint?”

His felt the vacuum inside of his stomach pulling on his insides: but it wasn’t important, what _was_ important was that there was nobody there: the way to the core was currently _open_ right now, he’d have to deal with whatever lay in there when he got there: but right now, he had to move. The two army men were at the same lift Brainz was in just an hour ago: they obviously weren’t going to find him in there, so they were going to return to this place. There were two blind hallways inside the resort, he’d have to take a chance…. Brainz made for the door…. Keeping collected by focusing on the petty things, a hushed “singsongy” reminder-

“- don’t step _in_ the glasssss… or the _blood!”_  

-remembering that hapless green dragon looking guy who faced a pair of M16’s.

“-oh?”

But to his error: there was naught to resemble the medium of life, not a drop spilled.

“what?...”

 

It wasn’t him, there was no questioning what happened, it _did_ happen, the shattered glass was everywhere, he had to take caution not to step on all the jagged pieces: he could even see in the shimmering pile, the empty 5.56 casings, there were even _bullet holes_ in the tiled floor, they shot this thing even when it fell to ensure it was _dead!_ But where’s the blood?? Come to tell….

“-what happened to the body?!”

 

Again he only whispered the bewilderment, but the tone was there: he was hit by that familiar “dumbstruck” sensation. There had to be logic here, because other humans were involved.

“Ok ok… calm down: you think they dragged _em_ away?? I don’t _think_ so, I didn’t see them with a body… _maybe…_ maybe that other team came from the core and took it… _no…_ I would’ve heard them, combat boots are noisy as shit… and I would’ve heard the dragging… but even if I didn’t… **_where’s the blood??”_ **

 

There was just _nothing_ there! Nothing but a pile of-

“More dust?? The fuck?”

 

Another pile of dust… a _heap_ of it: the same sparkly, _glittery_ looking stuff as the pile he’d seen outside of the resort! With the helmets… come to think of it, the soldiers _had_ to have come across it too… **_WAIT…_ **

“Wait… wait a second… wait just a second… what’s going on here…”

 

There was a monster there, then there was gunfire, and now there was dust…

Those two armored goons, they were there, and then there were soldiers, and now there was dust.

When Brainz assaulted Gerson, that old codger… there was dust.

When he gutted Undyne like a trout, all that blood, that was all _his…_ but her? **Dust.**

His first encounter where he used lethal force, Papyrus… Dust…

 

“The book…”

Suddenly, all the examples twisted together into a large drill bit, and it bore a hole straight through his thick skull, the suppressed contents of his brain spilled out, a flow of memory, unblocked. He closed his eyes for just a moment, and found himself back in the cold: back in Snowden: behind the ironically named “Librarby” scoffing at the passages of that leather clad book. What did it tell him? What did _she_ want him to know??

 

* * *

 

 **_"Ｍｏｎｓｔｅｒｓ ａｒｅ ｍｏｓｔｌｙ ｍａｄｅ ｏｆ ｍａｇｉｃ..._ ** **_ａｎｄ ｔｈｅｎ ｙｏｕ ｉｇｎｏｒｅｄ ｍｅ ａｎｄ ｆｌｉｐｐｅｄ ａｈｅａｄ...._ **

 

 

**_-ｆｕｎｅｒａｌｓ ａｒｅ ｑｕｉｔｅ ｓｐｅｃｉａｌ_ **

**_. Ｗｈｅｎ ｍｏｎｓｔｅｒｓ ｉｎａｄｖｅｒｔｅｎｔｌｙ ｐａｓｓ ｏｎ:_ **

**_ｔｈｅｉｒ ｂｏｄｉｅｓ ｄｉｓｓｏｃｉａｔｅ ｉｎｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｖｅｒｙ ｄｕｓｔ ｔｈａｔ ｃｏｍｐｏｓｅｓ ｔｈｅｍ._ **

**_Ｉｔ ｉｓ ｃｕｓｔｏｍａｒｙ ｆｏｒ ｔｈｅ ｒｅｌａｔｉｖｅｓ ａｎｄ ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｄｅｐａｒｔｅｄ ｍｏｎｓｔｅｒ ｔｏ ｓｐｒｅａｄ ｔｈｉｓ ｄｕｓｔ ｏｖｅｒ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｍｏｓｔ ｃｈｅｒｉｓｈｅｄ ｏｂｊｅｃｔ._ **

**_Ｉｔ ｉｓ ｂｅｌｉｅｖｅｄ ｔｈａｔ ｉｎ ｄｏｉｎｇ ｓｏ, ｔｈｅｉｒ ｅｓｓｅｎｃｅ ｗｉｌｌ ｌｉｖｅ ｏｎ ｆｏｒｅｖｅｒ, ｎｅｖｅｒ ｔｒｕｌｙ ｄｅｐａｒｔｉｎｇ ｆｒｏｍ ｕｓ._ **

 

**_…._ **

 

**_Ｊｕｓｔ ｌｉｋｅ ｈｏｗ Ｉ'ｍ ＮＥＶＥＲ ｇｏｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｌｅａｖｅ ｙｏｕ.”_ **

 

He felt the cold breath seeping down his neck again…

* * *

 

“Hey. _You!”_

 

Brainz jumped out of the cold and his eyes shot open, left hand snatched the revolver from his pocket: and he caught the swinging appendage with his other hand, cupping his hands and gun: bracing for the undetermined kick of recoil. He ran for the leftmost hallway, jumping over the puddle on the ground and pressing himself against the wall, hiding from the lobby.

 

The jarring voice came in the very direction he needed to go, and that’s exactly where the gun was pointed, he extended his arms out towards the core entrance and piled his thumbs on the rusty cocking hammer: prepared in the event the double action mechanism failed.

 

But there was nobody there…

 

The room was empty, just him, the fountain, and his paranoia: he so desperately wanted to call the disembodied voice out, but he knew to keep his mouth shut: if he uttered so much as a noise, it couldn’t been the peep that the military heard before storming in to kill him. At least he knew it wasn’t the team returning from the core… but then again, why would they even give him a warning? He knew if he was spotted like that, standing out in the open looking for the marbles in his head, he wouldn’t even get to feel his heart exploding from the lead piercing into it. So it _wasn’t_ them, then who was it?

 

He gave the cold feeling down his neck a belated shiver and turned for just a glance: of course _she_ wasn’t there… but then, what was it??

 

He looked into the room down the hallway he entered, some kind of dining room? This was a fancy-ish hotel he was in…-

 

At least it was the fanciest one _he’d_ been in in a while.

 

-it was _abandoned_ though: room was completely dark, all the tables were empty… in fact: there weren’t even chairs at them. _Maybe_ there could’ve been persons hiding in there? But that would have nothing to do with the voice he heard-”

 

“Over _here_.”

 

Brainz jolted again, this time pointing the gun in a much less vague direction. Back at the far side of the lobby, but not quite down the way of the core… although he was making the peripheral glances just to make sure… come to think of it: he found more evidence of this building’s occupation.

 

It seemed the soldiers had left some of their equipment behind, a large acetylene tank complete with torch with the line coiled up on the ground amidst some fire retardant gloves and a welding mask. There were various bags laying around, they _could’ve_ been exoptable. But Brainz knew not to pilfer meat from lions. You had to be foolish or starving to do that, he was both: but he knew they would notice if he took anything. But what were they doing anyway?

 

Judging from the scorching traveling up a set of elevator doors in the lobby, right beside all the equipment, it looked like they were trying to get in there.

 

_Hmm… must’ve been the elevator they mentioned before… I’ll let them find out they’re wasting their time on their own._

 

It must’ve been the way to the higher floors of this building, after all: Brainz didn’t exactly see **[STAIRS]** anywhere. But did they _really_ think he was trying to hide up there? Well, they _did_ have to be thorough… he _did_ lead them to a cave full of monsters and nonsense afterall… in _fact…_ who would put a hotel **_here_ ** of all places?

 

He had other things to worry about right now, like the now _aggravated_ sounding voice.

“In **_HERE,_ ** stupid!”

 

With the sound of splashing water coming from the fountain, it made pinpointing the-

“The RESTAURANT, you _idiot!”_

 

Brainz finally noticed from behind the second set of double glass doors, the darkened silhouette was the source of the voice, holding the doors ever so slightly ajar, he stared at it, his gun stared too. But the figure only noticed his attention, and it called out to him again, an anxious and without confidence voice, pushing and pulling on pitches and tones. It sounded exasperated.

“What’re you just standin out in the _open_ for?! Get in here before they come **_back!!_ ** You got a deathwish or something???”

 

Brainz had no idea who or what was talking to him, but he already found himself trusting _that,_ he leapt from the hallway and over the puddle, the cold stream of water clipping his shoulder. Brainz didn’t figure where he was running until halfway down the room. The shouting had convinced him that much that standing there to the end of time was a bad idea, more of a bad idea than blindly trusting some ghost from nowhere, or making right for the core and running into a group green camo. He took the words for their face value and ran into the new room.

A small, cheerful bell announced his entry: it made him doubt his decision on the spot, but it was too late for that now, he had to go with his choice. He looked all around for the mysterious figure, but failed to do so. Just an empty take out counter that looked like it belonged at a McDonalds. He kept his voice high strung and jumpy, but really when it came down to it: Brainz was prepared to let the gun do the talking.

“Where are you, _who_ are you??”

 

The room was well lit and empty with the exception of him and the counter, the kitchen area behind was dark, the contrast made him feel more exposed and vulnerable than outside. He couldn’t help but obsess over what blobby, distorted shape he cast over the translucent doors behind. Brainz turned his head back to them, just to make sure they were still an option-

 

“Welcome to _MTT-Brand Burger Emporium,_ home of the Glamburger, how may I help you?”

 

It didn’t matter that the voice couldn’t have shown less enthusiasm, it didn’t help any that it was so monotonous that it sounded like a zombie reading lines from a prompter. Brainz made a startled sort of shiver and his head ducked into his shoulders, before he spun around: single handedly pointing the revolver at the final reveal of his company.

 

_(Oh great… he’s a weirdo)_

Upon inspection, it looked like a bipedal cat with bright orange fur: he was wearing a tacky uniform complete with a big, forced grin: despite just seeing him: Brainz could tell by the look on his face that he hated life almost as much as he did.

“Wha…??”

 

The clerk repeated himself, taking a passive aggressive breath and stretching that faux smile even tighter, along with his friendly demeanor.

“I _said…_ Welcome… to… the-”

 

He _really_ exaggerated this next part, gritting his strangely normal looking teeth in that grin.

“- **_MTT Brand Burger Emporium._ ** Can. I. **_HELP._ ** You?”

 

Brainz’s expression was a total loss, he could feel his arms twisting outwards as his palms faced the ceiling, an involuntary and bewildered shrug: he did it so slow that it was painful. His voice couldn’t find the right volume, the tone was there: but not the energy to properly express his confusion. He sounded like he was out of breath even though he wasn’t.

“ _What???_ Help me??? You _yell_ at me from across the room… so you can sell me fast **_food?_ ** Wha… i just-”

 

He stammered, no real words: just incomprehensible faltering. This cat… _thing_ knew enough to warn him about the soldiers… but he only did so so he’d have a **_customer????_ ** Or was this a trap? Brainz couldn’t even round up the brain cells to try to think about that option, this was just too far out there.

“- are you. **_Ffff-ucking SSe-ERIOUS?”_ **

 

The cat only warmed up his smile and closed his eyes, sounding much more “friendly” and unsavvy to Brainz’s apparent exasperation. Like this was just another day at work for him.

“I’m sorry **sir:** It’s against our fun fun policy to talk with people who haven’t **_bought_ ** anything yet. We can only talk to **_customers._ ** ”

 

Brainz dully threw his free arm up above his head, his face souring and his tone returning to normal

“ _Un-_ **_fucking_ ** _-believable.”_

 

This wasn’t supposed to surprise him anymore… and he knew this very well: so instead of going on a rant or some rambling tangent: he was going to shut this guy down and be on his way before he wasted any more of his goddamned time-

 

To be fair, he _was_ surprised that this guy was still _alive,_ nevermind the chicks hiding in the dumpster out back, they were _hiding._ But behind a well lit counter, in a place marked by a big glowing _sign?_ **_Someone_ ** fucked up…

 

-Brainz decided to throw that false courtesy right back: implying sympathy behind a wall of aggravated sarcasm.

“Sorry to bust your bubble, **_buddy:_ ** but I don’t got a dime on me, or “G” or _whatever the hell it’s called._ I got **_nuthin_ ** _OKAY??”_

His arms were splayed out at his sides, Brainz took a deep breath to calm down: he licked his dried lips and mentally prepped himself to turn around and leave. Regardless of what this oblivious drone would say.

 

“Like I _said,_ **_SIR:_ ** I can’t **_talk_ ** to you. Unless- you **_BUY_ ** something.”

 

Brainz nodded to himself-

“Yep, kay…hm?”

-And was about to turn around, but his rolling eyes caught the dedicated employee sliding his strangely articulate paw across the pristine looking counter. Sliding something under his paw, a small pile of gold coins.

So now Brainz was drawn back in, this was going somewhere else than what he assumed. He approached the counter again and squinted at the coins: while the clerk removed his paw from them for Brainz to have a look. At first he muttered under his breath with his eyes fixated on the gold.

“So you guys _do_ use gold-…”

 

Then he diverted his attention back to the clerk, more genuine now, showing more of his desire to get a grasp at what was going on.

“What are you trying to _do?_ ”

 

Once again, it was like an automated response, but it sounded far less heavy handed, the clerk put more emphasis on the implications of what he was doing. His body language too.

“I _can’t_ talk, unless you’re a **_c u s t o m e r…”_ **

 

Brainz hesitantly reached for the money, and seeing no protest from the clerk: he scooped it into his open hand: using the gun as a croupier’s wand. Something he’d done in the past enough for it to be a muscle memory. He looked down at the coins in his hand and then back to the clerk: finally getting the gist and going along with it… albeit confused to all hell. But hey: he was getting food out of this, so it wasn’t such a bad deal.

“Uhh… _okaaay?…_ Uhm… what can I _get_ with uh-”

 

He tried to count, inspect the coins for markings designating their value or weight. But the clerk cut him off, putting back on his enthusiastic show, cheery and bubbly almost-

They weren’t paying this guy enough, that was for certain.

-“I recommend the _Starfeit!_ The sweet treat made of sparkling stars to bring out the **_star_ ** in you!”

 

Brainz went with it.

“Uhh… _ok?_ Can I get a-”

 

“That’ll be 60G.”

 

Brainz dropped his hand to the counter and released the clump of coins, the clerk _immediately_ took them back and produced a decorative glass filled with something sparkly, topped with a big yellow star made of glitter. Brainz just sneered and squinted at the thing, it did not look right.

“Euuh… Is it supposed to look like that?”

* * *

 

**“Don’t know, don’t care, that makes you a customer and that means I can stop selling my soul with a side of fries.”**

That forced demeanor was gone, the orange cat dropped his smile too. It was like the policy was a drill sergeant who Brainz just bribed to give him permission to speak. The cat let out a bitter sounding laugh, amused at himself without paying too much attention to Brainz who just stood there, raising his brows.

 

The cat had his fill for sarcastic laughter and as it died down, he nonchalantly extended one of his claws, and genuine interest piqued his voice.

“You’re Suspect Omega, aren’t you??”

 

Well of course that name would be circulating around now…It didn’t matter at this point, he already accepted he was infamous down here now: but considering this guy hadn’t tried anything yet, and Brainz didn’t have any outstanding suspicions that he would. Brainz saw no reason to argue and merely made the question rhetorical, by supplying his own question: sarcastic and bitter.

“And **_h’what_ ** gave it away?”

 

That sarcasm was picked up, and thrown right back at him, quite professionally.

“Hmmm, dunno: just had that look to you-”

 

Look?

His face was covered in those slender bandages, with a layer of grime and sweat coating the rest of it. His clothes were filthy and torn. He looked like he’d been prematurely taken out of an oven, partially scorched, face fully flushed… and looking downright miserable. Brainz looked like if hell had its _own_ hell. If _that_ wasn’t a dead giveaway, could it be that he was the odd man out from all the _other_ humans? Or the fact he was hiding from them _too…_ no, of course not.

“Well, what’s it to ya?”

He made sure not to let off _too_ threateningly, but at the same time he wanted the possibility to be apparent. He subtly did this by making sure the gun stayed where they could both see it, but not too close that the cat could reach and take it from him, but enough at any aggressive movements; all Brainz had to do was raise his hand and pull the trigger while jumping backwards. But OK, he was prepared enough, so let's get on with it.

 

The cat noticed the slight assumption and pulled both of his paws from the counter, holding them up passively. His face was straight, only slightly grinning, his tone was fitting.

“Oh, _nothing_ to _me…_ nothing between **us** , Buddy… I know better than to try _anything_ with you, not the way I intend to spend my break-”

 

He just shook his head confirmingly, but pointed at Brainz. The cat had a strange habit of flipping through emotions without transitions. He’d look calm, but then his face would jump to some giddy look, voice following it. It was… unsettling the least.

“- no no _no_ **_sir…_ ** but _those_ guys-”

 

And he wagged his one claw towards the door behind Brainz, Brainz turned his head instantaneously: feeling a palpitation. He almost certainly expected to see a group of barrels staring at him from the door, his last feeling before death wondering how stupid he was for falling for this… but _no…_ there was nobody there. The cat was just referring to the soldiers. Brainz was able to turn back towards him, prompting him to finish.

“- I think it means a _bit_ more to them if you ask me.”

 

Just a grim reponse.

“I bet…”

 

The cat just nodded and kept the prying tone up.

“ _Ooohhhhh yeah…_ you shoulda heard them-

_Where is this guy?_

_I really wanted to shove this down his throat._

_How will we find Omega, he blends in with the uglies._

_If we get to run into Brainz, I’m gonna-”_

 

He cleared his throat before he could finish that, and put on the calm, straight look.

“- you see what I mean. You’re all they talk about out there!… well besides, hmm... how they’re doin with killin everyone y’know?”

 

He could’ve been trying to start some kind of guilt with Brainz, but he had a real question to ask.

“Yeah? Then what about you, I doubt they overlooked a ripoff _Mcdonalds._ ”

 

The cat buzzed his lips, letting out a disrespectful sounding sigh, it was funny to him.

“Hnn- _hnhnh-henh-hnh-heh, Noo…_ of **_course_ ** not, these guys were _very_ thorough, they came in here pointing their big looking guns at me… like you are-”

 

Yeah he was, that thing was pointed right at him and Brainz didn’t even realize, but that aside: he interrupted him before he could sound anymore smug and unbothered.

“Then why’re you still alive?”

 

The cat couldn’t help but continue snickering, but the intent to stop was there: he held up a claw to ask politely for Brainz to wait while he composed himself.

“Oh no, so like: they didn’t come in here for the _food,_ that’s for sure… and you see how I’m bound by **_company policy_ ** not to talk to non-customers… well I told them _just_ that. “Sorry guys, you wanna kill me? You gotta buy something first.””

 

Honestly, it wasn’t that hard trying to picture that happening: a group of five prodding their assault rifles across the counter: contested by that shit eating grin… Brainz knew he said that with a very straight face… he was actually impressed, _he_ wasn’t going to be able to do that. However, he didn’t admit to this and instead.

“You’re shitting me… you actually _told_ them that?”

 

“Yep”

 

His voice lost a bit of its monotony, Brainz sounded a little too anxious.

“Well, wwwhat did they _do???_ ”

 

The cat rolled his eyes and puckered his lips some, thinking of it, then he smacked them.

“ _Well…”_

 

And after the forlorn sounding pause, he suddenly sounded quite _burdened_ all of a sudden: but he still held that straight face, hiding the real emotions. He sighed and continued.

“- they all laughed at me... -”

 

He nodded, pressing his lip.

“- yep… they _all_ laughed, I guess it looked really funny, me telling them that: maybe they wanted me to be afraid of them… but uh, not really… _anywho…_ they found me so amusing that they decided they weren’t gonna kill me… _yet.”_

 

“Yet?”

That implied that they _were_ going to come back.

 

The cat had no issues with this however, it couldn’t have been less important to him.

“You got it: they said I was _so_ funny that they were going to kill me last: so they laughed a bit more about it… _thennn…_ they killed all of my customers and left… you’re stepping in one right now actually.”

 

Brainz looked down and noticed the white powder collectively sticking to his boots, he looked down at the floor behind him and noticed a couple more piles, desecrated from his footsteps. He felt his insides drop inside of him and a dry retch came out from his mouth. He jumped out of the pile and held his one foot out trying to shake it off in a hurry. He sounded half disgusted and half confounded.

 

“AWwwhh, **_fucking HELL,_ ** man! Do you guys just _disintegrate_ when you **_die???_ ** Man, what the _fuck_ is _with_ you people?!”

 

The cat raised a brow as Brainz tried to wipe all the newly clarified dust off himself while fidgeting, the clerk was a little intrigued, but more so disappointed.

“Well, **_duhhh:_ ** when we die, we dissolve back into the dust that makes us, It’s not that hard. I woulda thought _you_ of all people would know that by now, where have **_you_ ** been lately?”

 

Brainz was escalated already, he forgot he was supposed to keep his voice down, and perfectly voiced his frustration at the guy, how dare he sound condescending.

“Fucking, **_everywhere!!_ ** I’ve been _everywhere_ and have had to deal with every- **_one!_ ** But I have _yet_ to see **ANYone** just up and turn into fucking **_DUST!_ ** What about **_you,_ ** tough guy? Where have **_YOU_ ** been?? Standing behind that fucking counter all day?”

 

“Actually I have, but-”

Now the other brow rose up, making the look much less condescending but curious.

“-wait, you seriously haven’t seen anyone dust in front of you?”

 

Brainz, having rid himself of most of the “dust” also did his temper and honestly told the guy.

“ _No…_ I haven’t.”

 

“I thought your stay here was a little more _combative,_ then: don’t take it wrong, but you look like you just challenged half the underground to the _death.”_

 

Brainz squinted hard, not wanting to be misunderstood or have any ideas of cowardice or lies about him.

“I **_did…”_ **

 

But then he recoiled, realizing he was only incriminating himself, double points for the fact it wasn’t even true.

“I mean, **_no:_ ** _they_ did, I **_MEAN-”_ **

 

He fumbled angrily and grunted before he pointed forcefully at the clerk, with lots of assertion.

“- _YOU_ did! **_You_ ** people fucking started it! I didn’t do shitting fuck until you guys came to _me!-”_

 

Then he sounded like he was lecturing on the topic, over annunciating certain words and stretching others, all while he prodded at himself.

“-I’ve been beseeched by everyone and their  _**second cousins** _ the **MINUTE** I stumbled out here, I haven’t had more than five minutes without someone else taking a potshot at me, including your _stupid_ little captain: who forced me to slay her outside a cave!-”

 

He was interrupted.

“You _killed_ Undyne?... So you _did_ see someone dust then.”

Brainz was vexed by the intrusion and addressed it with a quick blurt.

“ _Nooo I did NOT!!_ I mean, I don’t _think_ I did!... I don’t know, I didn’t exactly stick around to take _credit_ for what she _made_ me do-”

 

Interrupted again.

“I’m just saying then, if she still _existed_ by the time you walked away: you didn’t kill her.”

 

Now he knew that he _was_ incriminating himself, but what was it going to do at this point? Everybody had bigger problems than him it seemed, so he was content with doing so if it prevented lies from coming up about him. He scoffed incredulously.

“I highly doubt she got up and walked away after what _I_ did, I fucked her up in more ways than you can think of.”

 

It should be noted that despite everything he was saying and claiming, that the clerk just didn’t really react accordingly. No expressions of shock or disgust, nothing like that. He stayed as neutral as any veteran of the retail business could be, _this_ was just another day at work. He only shook his head.

“Doesn’t matter what you did to her _physically_ , as long as she has any scrap of **HoPe** left in her, you can’t put her out… goes for everyone… you _really_ don’t know about us, do you, and _how_ long have you been down here?”

 

Brainz squinted and pressed his free hand into the counter to prop himself up, gesturing with it accordingly.

“I _had_ a book… but- **“** **_Hope”?_ ** The hell does _that_ mean?- actually.”

 

Something made him turn to the door again, he’d been doing this every minute or so. The cat finally addressed it with a low key sympathetic tone.

“ _Buddy,_ **_relax…_ ** they are _not_ gonna come in here… I know it's gonna be a lot to ask of you, but  _trust me._ ”

 

But Brainz didn’t, because it looked more like he didn’t _care_ if they’d come back, rather than he _knew._

“And just _how_ do you know that exactly? That they weren’t just _lying_ to you, or that they’re not gonna finish up and be right in that lobby in five minutes?”

 

More assertion from the clerk, forcing that grin back on him again: hiding some kind of aggression.

“ _Because…_ unlike _you_ I actually know this place, there’s a _lot_ more people living here than you _think,_ let alone the city just off of “New Home” and let alone the rest of the floors in this damn resort… and those jokers still haven’t figured the elevator… I _know_ I got time-”

 

Then he thought of something else and followed with it.

 

“- and if you’re concerned with them “checking up” on me… they stopped popping their heads through the door to laugh at me or to say how many people they killed about an hour ago. I’m so little of a threat to them that they’re comfortable with leaving me to my lonesome… so why would they imagine a psycho like you, would be wasting his time with someone as insignificant as _me?”_

 

It didn’t matter the point that the clerk had, nor the uncaring, _nihilistic_ way he said it. Brainz picked out one little detail from the speech and concerned himself with _that._

“Hours… how long have these guys _been_ here exactly?”

 

The clerk rested one elbow in his paw and the other paw to his chin, he looked up to an inactive ceiling fan above and made some guttural “buffering” noises as he thought.

“Mmmmmm… _about…._ Hmm, right about when I started my shift come to think of it: about four hours ago.”

 

Brainz’s face unlocked, eyes and mouth opened and widened, but his voice didn’t make it to the expression and he just whispered in disbelief.

“ _Four hours?!_ Holy shit… these guys had to have been right behind me the _whole_ time! _Fuck me!”_

 

The clerk added in, not helping the anxiety.

“Well it took you about two days or so to get here: and this is just from when we were informed about you… we didn’t get any word about _them (Probably because they killed everyone there).”_

 

Brainz finally stepped back from the counter, put into some kind of daze or stupor, he began groaning while holding one side of his head, he felt like he was about to fall over.

“Oo _ooOooahhhh…_ Jeeesus, Christ….”

 

The cat on the other hand?

“Anywho, what were talking about again?”

 

Brainz croaked.

“Hope… the thing I’ve got _none_ of.”

 

Well, his gloom was finally recognized, only to be refuted by a strangely optimistic clerk.

“Well _sure_ you do! You’re still standing here, you’re still up and on your quest to kill our king leave the underground. That requires hope, just a _little_ bit at least.”

 

Suddenly, Brainz found his balance: he spun around and stomped up to the counter: coming right into the clerk’s face within an instant. He jutted his one arm to point into him. Triggered and spooked nevertheless.

“ _How do you KNOW that?!_ **_WHO TOLD YOU?!”_ **

 

The clerk again held his paws up to show non aggression, he raised his voice to retaliate, but it wasn’t as entirely genuine as he sounded.

“Whoa, _buddy._ Calm. **_down._ ** Or at least keep your voice down, those doors aren’t sound proof: I found that out the hard way when my boss heard me bad mouthing him behind his back…”

 

Brainz paid no mind to the context, he just started to tremble. He did lower his voice to a threatening, yet threatened sounded mutter, while he glared right into the employee. His jaw was locked into a snarl, but his lips still moved.

“Tell me… _who…_ told you that.”

 

“Take it _easy,_ man… **_nobody._ ** I literally told you, I don’t get chummy with the customers _unless_ they’re **_customers_ ** , and you’ve been the first and _only_ “customer” I’ve had all shift…”

 

“Then how do you  _know_ that?”

 

The clerk rolled his eyes even more so than last time, sounding even more condescending.

“Uh, like _everybody_ knows that-”

 

“ **_What?!”_ **

 

“-let me finish before you lunge across the counter. _Everybody_ knows that although your human SOULs are stronger than ours, that they’re still not enough to get out of the barrier. So… for _you_ to leave, you’d have to get your dusty hands on the only monster SOUL down here that won’t break apart the minute you kill one of us: and use it to cross. There’s only _one_ monster down here who has such a soul, and lucky for you: he lives right inside the barrier, now who would that be?-”

* * *

 

Brainz let himself back off from the counter again, defaulting his stance and look as his mind was overwhelmed with this. He knew he read _something_ about it, some time ago… but nothing coherent could come to thought right away. He didn’t really know how to feel about this.

 

On one hand, the part of him that always self judged and assumed it was his fault: it told him, why he was pegged as a murderer from the beginning, that everybody saw his intentions to leave and that they assumed he knew what it meant, regicide. That he certainly didn’t give them any reason not to believe that with his little reign of self righteous terror, it was all a misunderstanding… but that was days ago.

 

On the other, that nagging voice that always persuaded him to take the next step: that strange feeling that in the face of everything you had done so far, that your zealous plan to kill this person… wasn’t justified anymore, that it looked so much more selfish. To them, he wasn’t going to kill Asgore being it was the right thing to do: but that it was his way of running away. That was how everyone would look at it, why else would he do it: avenge the lives of children he wouldn’t have cared about on the surface? Unlikely.

 

Why was he going out of his way to help _this_ kid, anyway?

 

It was depressing to say the least… at the same time: the logical part of him tried as it always did to convince him nothing was the way it seemed, nothing changed: he would’ve killed Asgore all the same, what did it matter if now he actually had something to gain over it? But then again… what about flowey? He doesn’t have a soul? Right? Isn’t that what he said? Would Brainz be able to take him out? Or would there only be this ticket to escape for one person? There was just too much up in the air now… it just never stopped growing in convolution. He spent so much mental energy just circling on the matter that he had completely tuned out what the clerk was saying. Only resuming when he pushed his thoughts away and changed his channel back to the outside world.

“-if he’s even still _alive,_ that’s another thing. But man, if there’s one thing I wanna see, its gonna be all these human’s reactions to the fact they all walked into their own tomb….-”

 

The cat put on a big sly grin, a cigarette peeked out of one corner, he let a cool couple of smug and uncaring chuckles.

“- heh-heh-heh, _eaaaah…_ that’ll be funny- uh, you doin alright there, buddy?”

 

Brainz was standing there with a very vacuous look on his face. Unbeknownst to him, he was emitting a constant noise from the back of his throat, just barely audible.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”

 

He failed to completely emerge from himself, until he felt something soft grabbing his open hand, he shivered back to reality to see the clerk had climbed across the counter and was standing in front of him, clutching his hand.

“Eeuuh?”

 

The clerk released his hand, leaving something behind though, and he looked up to Brainz.

“You look like you could, _really,_ use one of these.”

 

A hand-

 

Or paw, if you preferred to insist.

 

-rolled cigarette.

 

Brainz choked on a quick and hushed gasp, and his rasp came back for a moment as he stared bug eyed into the clerk. Asking if this was really happening.

“ _Really?”_

 

At first, the clerk took it the wrong way and began to backpedal.

“Oh, my bad: you don’t smoke eh? I guess I was also wrong about-”

 

He reached to take it back but Brainz immediately swiped his hand to his mouth, pressing his lips onto the one end of the cigarette. His hand then went right for the lighter in his pocket. He sparked it three times before it produced a flame, it was immediately shared with the rolled up thing.

 

“-whoa, I guess that’s how human’s do it without fire magic, huh?”

 

Brainz took the longest and most savory drag of the thing he’d ever done on a cigarette in his entire life, if he wasn’t so fixated on the thing, he may have swallowed it. He sucked and sucked until his lungs were full of the smoke, to the point of coughing. But then he released all of it in a slow steady exhale. As he did, his shaking ceased immediately. Brainz turned  and let himself slump down to the floor, resting against the counter. He closed his eyes as he blew the remainder of the smoke up his face: feeling the warm air disturbing his uneven bangs. A long and satisfied sounding groan of relief followed it… it almost like a death rattle from some corny movie.

“ _OOooohhh…. My gaaaaahhddd-uh.”_

 

He took another puff and pointed up to the clerk looking down at him: the gift wedged between his fingers. His attitude towards him changed dramatically.

“You sir… are a _king_ among men… don’t take it the wrong way, but I think you just became my favorite thing down here.”

 

His display was definitely amusing to the clerk, who chuckled softly, still grinning slyly, although much less demeaning looking.

“Heh, you know... you’re not so bad yourself… for a _“bad guy”._

 

Brainz sighed amusingly, incredulously. He kept his speech down to a low croak, very calm all of a sudden. This newfound, easiness around this guy and this room. Like the cigarette took effect immediately and was full of depressants.

“Is that what you think?”

 

The clerk took it on himself to join Brainz and slump down next to him, both taking drags on their respected smokes. He looked to him, balancing his one arm atop of his knee bent into an arch.

“To tell you the truth? You really don’t look like a “bad guy” you looked more like a-uuhh-”

 

He took a puff and let it out when he opened his mouth again.

“- like you’ve been wound up ten too many times, and the next one’s gonna break you-”

 

And other puff, with a candid thought.

“-you kind of looked like _me_ actually… in a way.”

 

Brainz suddenly felt a repressed yawn finally crawl out, he put some words on it as it left him.

“ _I don’t even know how to take that anymore…_ I got so much shit piled on top of me, I don’t even know what smells anymore.”

 

Brainz had a habit of making nonsensical idioms and analogies that only made sense to him, usually anyone else within earshot either ignored them or just nodded so they wouldn’t have to dwell on it any longer than needed. The cat did just that, but he added a bit more.

“I get _exactly_ what you mean…”

 

Brainz turned to him some.

“You do?”

 

The cat looked back to him and nodded with enthusiasm and widened eyes.

“Oh _yeah!_ For _freaking_ sure! It just never stops coming, you get hit with it more and more and _more_ and **_more,_ ** until you just don’t even where you used to _be_ anymore… Story of my _freaking… life.”_

 

“ _Dude…”_

 

 

The cat shrugged.

“ _Yeah yeah,_ I know: you got your own problems to worry about, believe me, I _know-”_

 

Brainz shook his head, sounding very intrigued.

“ _No…_ that’s _my_ life story, too!.”

 

“No kidding?”

 

“You think I ended up here because my life was doing just _fine?”_

 

“What, you came here for a _reason…_ or was it an accident?”

 

Brainz tilted one of his open palms to a fro to say “A little bit of both” he’d let his gun go and placed it just beside him, not between him and the clerk, but still: a token of some kind of trust.

“Didn’t know this place existed, took the wrong exit, got spotted, got fucked, I mistook a big ass hole inside of a cave as a way to kill myself… every hour I find a new reason to _want_ to kill myself, but I can’t. Some time later, here I am like an over-amped energizer bunny, you?”

 

The clerk lightened his face some, seeing someone actually ask about _him_ for once: but then he thought of something else and dropped the smile.

“You don’t wanna waste your time on _me,_ I’m sure you got better things to do.”

 

Brainz surely did, but being told the reason he shouldn’t stay here and listen to this person complain about their life had the opposite effect on him. He was genuinely curious about this guy, more than anything this world threw at him. And considering how he _did_ consider his newly presented chances with the military? It didn’t bother him as much as it normally would though, if he was dead, he was dead: and besides: he knew he wasn’t going to be graced with that. He knew he’d get by somehow, much worse for the wear… but still going.

“That’s all I do is have my time wasted, difference here is I’m _choosing_ to waste my time on you: spill it.”

 

The clerk made an indecisive noise and tilted his head.

“Ehhhh, I dunno: we don’t know when those guys are gonna be back, I’d rather not see what happens when they find you.”

 

Brainz blew his lips nonchalantly.

“If they’re gonna find me, they’re gonna find me: If I can spend ten minutes talking to the only sane guy down this miserable place first? Least I wont say my time here was _all_ bad before I died…. Cmon, can you at least tell me what to _call_ you? Everybody already knows _my_ damn name, half of them aren’t gonna return the favor because they’re _dead.”_

 

The cat reluctantly was convinced, he looked straight ahead to the glass doors, seeing the world outside.

“People like to call me, “Burgerpants”.”

 

“ _Burgerpants?_ I bet there’s a story behind _that_.

The raised brow and marginally contemptuous tone from Brainz made “Burgerpants” just turn his head to look at him funny. Brainz reeled back in, feeling awkward, sounding awkward too.

“Uh, I _mean,_ eh… I mean because uh, _mm-mmy_ name has a story behind it. So like, I wasn’t makin _fun_ or anythin like that.”

 

Burgerpants sort of shooed at the mounting awkwardness with his paw.

“Eh, don’t worry about it: cause you’re right-”

 

Brainz was prepared to pry at it, with an eager sounding request to “let me hear it”, he assumed Burgerpants would try to withhold it out of courtesy. But no, he went right ahead with telling the story and Brainz didn’t even mind.

 

“-So, these two chicks asked me sneak them some _“_ Glamburgers” from work and-”

(..)

The story was told, some dramatic facial expressions and over emphasized sentences later: Brainz hadn’t interrupted the flow, only keeping it on with nods, “Uh-huh”s, and a couple of rhetorical “Whats?”

“- moral of the story? Never _ever_ trust a pretty face, if you’re not one of _them,_ then you gotta assume they’re gonna pull the wool over your eyes, and leave you out to dry once you’re not so _useful_ to them.”

 

With that, a respectful shrug opened him for some questions from Brainz. The first of which wasn’t even a question but a snide remark.

“Wow… what a couple of _bitches…_ good to see some things _never_ change.”

 

Burgerpants was just about done with his smoke, he noticed Brainz finished before he did and tossed the spent cigarette onto the floor. He took the liberty of grabbing it along with his and shoving them into a pocket. But he looked at Brainz with his own questioning look.

“Really now?”

 

Brainz made his own dramatic comeback to that, with a very assertive single nod.

“Oh Abso- **_lutely!_ ** It’s the _same_ old song and dance: you give someone the benefit of the doubt and they hamstring you: If I had a dollar for every time I let my guard down for a pretty face and got kicked in the balls… I’d probably be able to afford corrective surgery to _fix_ them.”

 

Burgerpants got the gist of it, despite not knowing some of the words he just heard: be he did get what Brainz was saying.

“Yeah… so is that how you ended up down here? You got screwed over one too many times?”

 

Brainz just blew air through his lips.

“More like a hundred…”

 

“ _Damn…_ and I thought _I_ was naive-”

 

Brainz squinted at him.

 

“- no offense.”

 

Brainz shrugged.

“Eh, that’s the least offensive thing anyone down here’s done to me so far.”

 

They both shared a good couple of minutes of silence, with the exception of the occasional sigh coming from each of them. Burgerpants was the one to break this though, one of his more trouble sounding sighs came first and then he jumped with a more heavy sounding question.

“(Can I) Ask you something?”

 

Brainz detected the tone but tried to sound unbothered, stretching his arms over his head.

“Shoot.”

 

Burgerpants didn’t take this though, and reinstated himself, looking very legitimate.

“No, like this is a serious question.”

 

Now he sounded the level of tentative that he was.

“Go, _ahead.”_

 

“You uh, you’re going to kill Asgore, our _king-”_

Brainz lost some of the cool he just mustered, his face making an unspoken “Oh boy…” gesture, he swallowed and started something to justify himself.

“ _Well-”_

 

Burgerpants didn’t let him finish and spoke up to overshadow Brainz.

“Now now hold up! I’m not gonna try and stop you or tell you “how **wrong** or **right** ” or whatever the hell it is… I just: you didn’t know that you needed to absorb his soul to leave; but you still want to kill him… what’s the deal with that? What did he do to you?"

 

Brainz only looked at him with his obvious concerns and paranoid stirrings, it’s not like anyone, let alone serving a monarch: to ask something like that without being a spy for them or on the verge of a coup.

Burgerpants shook his head and closed his eyes, shaking his opened palms once more.

“ _Look,_ I really don’t care what you do, believe me: I _know_ it doesn’t matter… and if you really don’t want to say, then _fine:_ it’s not my business anyway… but just the way you do yourself… it’s like you’re here for a _reason…_ well-”

 

He puckered his face for a moment then back to Brainz.

“- I know _they-”_

The soldiers.

“- have a reason, but what about you… you said you tried to off yourself: found yourself down here with us: and here you _are…_ Don’t take this the wrong way: but I think I’m missing something here, am I right?”

 

Brainz only exacerbated the look on his face, he was thoroughly troubled: but not in an aggressive way. Burgerpants saw his mistake and pulled the plug.

“Don’t worry about it, sorry: I’m not supposed to pry into my customer’s personal lives: I was just-”

 

 

“No…”

Brainz finally spoke, the look on his face graduated to one of stale anguish, something that wasn’t new by any means but it still hurt nevertheless. He moistened his lips and said it again: slowly shaking his head.

“No, you deserve to know… in fact, I think _all_ of you do, even the ones who tried to fuck me over-”

 

He looked right into Burgerpants, the bags under their eyes matched, but Brainz had far more gaunt to his eyes.

“-I _know,_ why these assholes are here… you want to know?”

 

Burgerpants nodded without saying a word, never breaking the eye contact Brainz instigated: he himself didn’t even notice they were staring into each other: he was already sunken into himself too much to tell or care. But regardless, he spoke: sounding progressively miserable as he went on.

“I never told you the story behind _my_ name… well- one of my names:   **_Suspect Omega,_ ** you really wanna know?”

 

In execution and reception it turned into a rhetorical question, Brainz continued.

“It’s not _my_ name: _I_ didn't come up with it… instead: _that…_ that is the classification I was given back in two thousand and seven… Oh-eight… I don’t remember exactly, _it was about_ **_ten_ ** _years ago._ But, that’s the name the government gave me: **when I was placed on the FBI’s most wanted list.** ”

 

He let the silence commence afterwards, letting himself gaze way from his company: allowing himself to wallow in shame. He awaited for the reaction he would get, something repulsed, some disgusted aversion to him.

 

“That’s _it?”_

 

But Burgerpants sounded _disappointed._ He squinted at Brainz like he was missing something else. Brainz took it almost personally and responded right away with his own kind of precise squinting.

“‘ _That’s it?’_ ??? Do you _not_ know what that _means???”_

 

Burgerpants shook his head, sounding lost.

“No… not _really._ ”

 

It made sense… it wasn’t like this place picked up any broadcasts from the surface: why would anyone show any relation to a list made by humans, _for_ humans? It would be unfair to assume this clerk would bridge the gap, especially without context of its pieces. Brainz stopped playing the vague game and just went right to the damn point, sounding aggravated: none of it directed to Burgerpants: but at his own expense.

“It means **_I’m_ ** a bad guy on the surface: you know how the majority of you people treat humans? Well that’s how **_other_ ** humans treat _me._ Cept, they don’t give a fuck about my soul or anything, they just want me _dead,_ or locked up in some dungeon below the surface: with the key cast into the center of the earth… people _hate me._ People hate my guts _so_ much, that they’ll stop at nothing to get me… including jumping into pits."

 

“But… then, that would mean…”

 

He was getting it now… Brainz wanted to forget this, but there was just no leaving it behind. He couldn’t let it go… and now he had to admit it to one of the very damned because of it.

“These fucking humans? They’re after me… **_I’m_** the reason they’re down here- they were chasing **_me_ ** and they followed me down here… everybody being fucking shot up? That’s _my_ fault...  it’s **_my_ ** fucking fault.”

 

Cold and toxic anguish washed over him, he could feel it collecting in his throat and pressing against his eyes, yet all he could do to show it was glare hatefully into Burgerpants… the look on Brainz’s face wasn’t for this cat, but he couldn’t direct the look at himself: not without a mirror.

* * *

 

**_*Tap, tip-tip, tap-tap-tap tap-tip tip tap tap tap tap tip-tap tippy Tap tip Tappity Tappity Tap tip Tap tip Tap tap tip tip Tap*_ **

 

He saw the red and blurry mass behind the glass door, rapping against the glass with her bare bone claws, he knew she’d come… she always did when he remembered.

 

**_*Tip Tap  Tap tippity-tip Tappity Tap Tap tippity Tap Tap, Tap tap tip  Tip-tap Tip-tap- Tip-Tap*_ **

 

She knew he was looking at her, she knew she always had his attention: she waved at him through the glass, the shark grin was distinguishable through the distortion.

 

“ **Brainz.”**

 

He felt a tug on his arm, it didn’t belong to her: she was still behind the glass. As disjointed as it was: he suddenly felt the urge to move his lips: speaking out into the world, a vacant thought.

“You must really hate me…”

 

There were noises again, some confused blurb just beyond his ear.

“ **What’re you** **_talking_ ** **about?”**

 

Again, he felt his lips move… she _made_ him do it: but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get any noise to come out.

 

“ _What?_ I can’t _hear_ you.”

Brainz turned to Burgerpants, to see the confused look on his face: it became mutual, he suddenly found his train of thought was gone, perhaps it was never there.

“Whu-what?”

* * *

 

Burgerpants scowled and repeated himself making the pinnacle of his weirded out and perhaps freaked out faces.

“What the hell are you saying?”

 

He remembered again and quickly looked back at the door, there was nobody there. The lost tone in his voice faded away and the regular anguish came back.

“Uh- nothing, I was just saying… you probably _hate_ me now, don’t you?-”

 

Back up to speed, back to his normal feeling of self worthlessness and loathe, the one thing he could share with so many more people, now this hapless clerk.

“- probably wanna… _turn me in_ right?: see what happens when they find me? Thinkin you can get a bargain deal for me?”

 

But _again,_ Burgerpants looked absolutely lost, he recoiled his head and sneered his lips, while one eyebrow went as high as it could go. The way he reacted to this was a double whammy, a single phrase with two meanings.

 

“Uhhh, **_No??”_ **

 

Brainz furthered his scowl, not turning towards Burgerpants, but still affixed to the glass doors.

“Why not.”

 

His loathsome only earned a more perplexed look.

“Am I _supposed_ to?”

 

Well now Brainz was confused, he sounded a little vexed actually, his normal for when things didn’t go quite as right. When he explained himself like that, especially when coating it with his self hate: you were either supposed to turn hostile towards him or show unwarranted sympathy, he was quite familiar to both outcomes.

“Uh, you’re supposed to hate me to the core and vow vengeance: if it’s the last thing you’ll ever do before you die… because I ruined your dreams of leaving this place? Like everyone else?”

 

All of a sudden, Burgerpants slid into a nasally kind of laughter: no audible intent to be disrespectful, but all the more rude.

“Are you _kidding_ me right now?”

 

“No, I’m the reason this is all happening, the reason why I wanted to leave was so they wouldn’t come down here… because they want _me._ ”

He said this with a straight face paired with deadpan delivery.

 

He only got more laughter, like it was funnier the second time… Burgerpants hadn’t laughed like that for a long time, he was suspended into deeply amused skepticism.

“ _Yeah! Right!..._ **_you???_ ** **Gimme a break!”**

 

Brainz pouted, his nose scrunched up, taking this more personally than he thought he would, his aggravation was almost drowned out by the cat’s snide laughing.

“I’m being deadly fucking serious, this is **_my_ ** **doing…”**

 

Burgerpants gritted his teeth as hard as he could, while all the chuckles were caught in his nose. Brainz growled from his throat, then he snapped: forgetting about the advice on the not-so soundproof doors.

“Well why _else_ would they fucking be down here?! This place is _non-existent!_ I’m starting to see why nobody wrote about this earth anus, at least **_I’M_ ** infamous, I gave them a reason to jump into this shithole! They don’t even _want_ you guys!”

 

Burgerpants found the will to control himself, he gestured and waved his paws downwards to ask for Brainz to tone down, he was still grinning all the same.

“Alright, alright: chill… chill… don’t have a fit.”

 

Brainz was almost tempted to ask for another cigarette, maybe even the remainder of the pack: he did bring his voice back down, after glancing through the door to make sure he didn’t attract any attention. He repeated himself, looking right into the cat’s tired eyes.

“Why else would they be here, the same time I am?”

 

Just like that, he was given the answer Burgerpants had, he blew his lips and made his bitter proposal.

“ _Pbbht.._ To finish **_us_ ** off?”

 

Brainz instantly changed his expression, taken off guard by the theory, especially because it had nothing to do with him.

“ _What??..._ **_you???-”_ **

 

He held a shrug, palms facing the ceiling and shoulders erect, and he asked with a softness in his voice, genuine inquiry.

“-We have _no_ **_nothing_ ** on this place, why would the army be after _you?”_

 

Burgerpants leaned back, resting his head into his propped up paws, a neutral sounding sigh started what he’d say next.

“Don’t know specifically, but looking at you-

_no offense by the way_

_-_ looks like humans haven’t changed a bit… still addicted to killing and taking from others… never content with what they have… it was only a matter of time before they’d come back for us…”

 

Then he looked at Brainz, looking the most sincere he’d ever in this conversation.

“But what I _really_ know… and… what’s keeping my cool… I _knew_ this was going to happen, not being invaded by humans per se… but that we were all going to _die…”_

 

Brainz’s own skepticism, but keeping slightly open: always expecting something else to come out of the blue: some underlying truth he didn’t know yet.

“ _Hhow…”_

 

“You mentioned dreams… and you just gave yourself credit for destroying mine… well let me tell you something, _buddy…_ **my dreams were crushed** **_years_ ** **ago…** you didn’t do _anything…”_

 

Before Brainz could ask, before he could note the return of the nihilistic bitterness…

“- you wanna know something about dreams? Dreams have a habit of going bad when you’re not looking… Take _me_ for example… did you know that it was my _dream_ to work with **_Mettaton-”_ **

 

Burgerpants put a hell of a lot of emphasis on that name, and quivered a bit with underlying anger.

“-that goddamn rectangle… that I’d get to be an actor just like him?-”

 

Brainz did not answer, Burgerpants wasn’t listening for one.

“- well… when he finally wrote back to me, after _so_ many letters… I thought it was really going to happen, my dream was _finally_ going to come true… and you wanna know what happened next?”

 

“Uhh…”

 

“I ended up _here.”_

 

Brainz admittedly winced just slightly-

“Ohh…”

-if only because this felt familiar, except he wasn’t the one talking about it.

 

“Uh-huh, _yeah…_ talk to me about _dreams…_ I was stupid back then, a dumb kid… now? I’m **twenty-five,** and I’ve already wasted my life on _dreams…_ you?”

 

Somehow Brainz knew the question he was being asked from that one word, and somehow he knew it was legitimate, at least enough to be honest.

“ **Forty-Six…** half dead, pretty sure I’ll be dead before the day’s over: no dreams, only the sustained nightmare I have to live through everytime I open my eyes.”

 

Burgerpants made a solid and respectful nod, no questions on it: he took it at face value. But he did continue, very heavy look in his eyes, the bags under them seemed more prominent.

“Point is… so, I’m going to assume you’re completely in the dark about our… **_colorful_ ** history…-”

 

It was too vague, Brainz only made an inquisitive “Hmm?”

 

“- _y’know…_ us being **_stuck_ ** down here since forever ago? You know that we _are,_ right? I mean have you ever asked-”

 

Brainz found where the topic was and interrupted him before he’d waste his words, he held up his _half a finger short,_ hand up to ask for a pause.

“Oh-oh oh-oh -oh! Yeah-yuh- _yeh…_ **no** … I actually know about that: you uh… say how our “souls” are like exoptable things, and you need seven of them to let you out or something… I uh-”

 

And he sounded a little reluctant to say this, despite already going through the notions he wasn’t a good guy: and seeing that Burgerpants wasn’t going to care nevertheless. Still though, he didn’t like saying one of the more _prominent_ reasons he knew he was in the selfish wrong.

“- I-eeeeyyy…. Figured that out already, the reason everyone was trying to kill me: hopped up like it was fucking _Mardi Gras…_ when I realized you guys couldn’t give a lesser shit of who I actually am… just the fact I’m a goddamned human-”

 

And he realized something, going off on a bit of a tangent, more so directed at himself: but having someone else hear it could only help.

“-and y’know??-”

 

He even took a moment to swallow, and wet his lips before finishing it with a deep breath just for occasion.

“-maybe I shouldn’t take it personally anymore… I _mean-_ I’ve already established myself as a bad guy: doesn’t really matter anymore… y’all hate my guts, and the military is out there trying to pump them full of lead.”

 

Burgerpants had gotten lost somewhere in the small soliloquy, but he seemed more than eager to get his point back on track: so he (for the most part) agreed with what Brainz laid out and resumed.

“- **_anywho…_ ** the reason I brought this up: and-”

 

He raised his brows and his head tilted, a new development that intrigued him.

“- **_actually…_ ** it may be related to what you just said… about uh: people wanting to kill you and all… calling it “Marty Day” or something…-”

 

Brainz didn’t correct him, he waited to hear what this was going on about.

“-Well… since you’re _oh so_ familiar with our efforts… do you know how many of those SOULs we have right _now??”_

 

“Uhh.”

 

_The hell did she say before? I know it was a number… fuck… I don’t remember._

 

“ **Six…** It’s six... -”

 

There was no joy in this declaration.

“- _Asgore,_ has six SOULs… six, **_HUMAN_ ** souls: and we need **_Seven,_ ** to get out of here.”

 

“But… that would make me…”

 

Burgerpants took the liberty to finish for him, nodding.

“Mmmn-hmm…you’re the **_lucky last SOUL._ ** **The “** **_only”_ ** thing standing between us and our “ **_Hopes and Dreams”.”_ **

 

[Wishful Thinking (Soundtrack)](https://youtu.be/ydOHnchttyI)

 

From the tone of his voice and the air quotes where appropriate, Burgerpants was being honest where it counted, while also sarcastic where it applied to Brainz. He finished on the perfect note of apathy with the sweetest of feigned celebratory expressions.

“Congratulations.”

 

The worst part of this, truly: was that it made sense. Brainz took it in-

“Well then…”

 

-he was still processing the new information. Flattening his lips and pressing them together while his nose almost hissed, he was breathing so sharply. Brainz smacked his lips and only made a casual remark when he finished.

“Figures…-”

 

He held that uncaring expression and didn’t move outside of clenching his fists only to release them: he did this for about a minute. Burgerpants was about to assume it meant he could continue: but before he could raise his head to acknowledge Brainz…

“-why did it have to be me…”

 

It didn’t sound like an honest question, Brainz didn’t want to ask for an answer: even though he wanted one more than anything. He instead spoke, as if nobody else was listening: his inner thoughts brought to the world, tired and sore.

“Of all the people in the world…of _all_ the dumbasses and unlucky bastards who fall down here… out of _everybody_ in the **_entire god-damn world_ ** …”

 

He gave up trying to be melodramatic, after everything he’d been through and in light of everything he was going to be put through… Brainz really didn’t want to waste his energy, he felt like he had so much less of it now, like he was sinking into the floor: lower than the world: lower than his normal depression. He was _just,_ **tired.**

“- why did it have to be me? I didn’t ask for this… did you know that?”

 

It was wrongly assumed that he didn’t want an answer, because when Burgerpants said nothing: Brainz turned to him.

“Did you?”

 

“Uhhh, no I-.”

 

“I don’t care whatever any of you think about me… what these…-”

A gesture towards the door, the world outside full of soldiers.

 

 _“-fuckers_ think: I just wanted to go home… I wanted to- just _leave_ you all alone, as you were: and it was gonna be like I never came here… yeah… that’s how it was going to be: it was gonna be fine-.”

 

He closed his eyes and strained himself with how tightly his pressed his lips, he still sounded how lifeless he felt. He shook his head mournfully. clap

“- but **no.** I just _had_ to get roped into this too… “Final soul for the barrier” bullshit… I never wanted this… I never even wanted to _hurt_ anyone-”

 

Burgerpants tried to interject with a politely suggesting, “Uhm.” But Brainz became instantly defensive, he assumed that the monster was trying to contradict him: why would anyone like Brainz try to be a pacifist? He was sick and tired to the bone, tired of these assumptions, his low energy mumble jumped an octave or two along with volume. And his body language became more erratic.

 

“- _No,_ It’s true! **I** never wanted **_anyone_ ** to get hurt! **_Nobody! Nothing!..._ ** The **_only_ ** motherfucker I was going to kill, was going to be this fucking “Asgore” and you _know_ why? Doesn’t even matter that it’s his fault you’re all mind-slaved zealots, doesn’t ever matter all the shit he’s put me through. It **_doesn’t even matter that he never gave me a CHOICE, NO!_ ** I’ll tell you.

Motherfucker killed children, probably more lost and more scared than me! It’s not gonna be for me. But for all the families he destroyed, nobody escapes _payback…_ so yeah, like I said: you can be mad at me all you want for ruining your stupid little plot, I don’t _fucking care._ I’m going to find him, and there’s going to be bits of dust stuck to every corner of the room when I’m done with him!”

 

The depression had already faded, morphed into something more volatile, Brainz had found himself jumping to his feet and standing over the disgruntled employee, breathing heavily.

 

Burgerpants could have tried to calm him down, he could’ve assured him that those ironic assumptions were wrong, but he already put his disposition and didn’t feel the need to repeat himself. Likewise, he just went with it and kept his calm way, but the words this time: he considered that he would set this human off, but wasn’t concerned for his own wellbeing.

“... Have you ever thought of what it looks like on his side?”

 

Brainz was as insulted as he was bewildered by the question, he snapped back to Burgerpants, sharply slinging his response.

“ _h’What??”_

 

“ _Have you… ever thought of it… from._ **His Side…** if he’s actually doing this from choice, if he’s… trapped by his own obligations, unwilling to let everyone here, everyone who _depends_ on him down?...-”

 

Brainz didn’t respond, he stalled: like all of his mental processing went into that question.

 

“- I used to be one of them, y’know. Where the only thing that would get me out of bed and in this _stupid_ outfit every day… was the hope that he would get those SOULs and free us, opening up a world of opportunity for me, for me to get out of this dead end job… and maybe fulfill my dream… just a thought.

But as I was saying…? We’re going to get so close… only for it all to come tumbling down… just like you did… you were last step before we could reach the surface: some of us almost felt the sun on our faces when you showed up… but me? I knew it was over the minute I heard news of you, and not because of what you did, not because of what you are. Because dreams don’t come true… they all come crashing down right before you reach them.”

 

Burgerpants brushed himself off and stood up to, not quite up to Brainz’s stature so he had to look up some, but he still continued: looking as apathetic as ever. His body language though, suggested underlying feelings. Melodramatic gestures here and there.

“So yeah… I don’t blame you for the humans coming down and killing all of us, _hell,_ I don’t even blame you for wanting to kill our king, if they don’t do it: it’s going to be **_you…”_ **

 

Then he made an apt and amused “heh.”

 

“Maybe it **_will_ ** be you, **_poetic irony…_ ** Yeah, I can see it now: the last SOUL that Asgore would take is actually the one that takes _him…._ God- _damn…_ the world is such a cruel mystery. It’s like destiny now… yeah, you know that prophecy of ours? The one talking about how an angel who walked the surface would free us all? Well… some of us felt it was a little… _vague_ and that well… **_a human was actually going to be sent from the world above to kill us all, a harbinger of death…._ **

 

Again… just a thought.”

 

* * *

 

“What’s so funny?”

 

Brainz had started laughing long before that was asked, raspy and painful sounding laughter: intermittent with coarse and _dry_ sounding coughs.

 

His “default” state, when all forms of rational thought failed to buffer the insanity: leaving a perfect channel to his brain, when it got that far: everything was funny. He was so concerned with the world “cheating” him, that the very notion his presence actually meant the _end_ of the world for an entire race never discovered. That _somehow,_ in spite of everything he could ever try: they were going to pin an act of **genocide** on him… because of some bullshit prophetic nonsense. And everyone on the surface would believe it, too!

 

HEADLINES: **_“Monsters and Mythical creatures actually_ ** **_EXIST!!!_ ** But BRAINZ, fucked it all up and got them killed!! The **_army_ ** had _nothing_ to do with it, it was _alllll_ him!”

 

It was the most horrible thing he could think of… and for that, it was **_funny as hell._**

 

He pressed his palms into his eyes, the pressure behind them felt like they would pop out of their sockets at any time. His teeth ground against each other, jaws locked into place while his teeth filtered the guttural noises coming out of him as hisses. It could go on like this for _minutes,_ if he was left to his own devices, the thoughts would circle and circle until his psyche couldn’t take it anymore, he would suffer another breakdown and waste a handful of minutes picking up the pieces, joining them together from all the wrong ends and holding it with duct tape.

 

But _no…_ somehow, one synapse came through the cloud of RED in his mind: it broke through, a shred of self consciousness: that this monster he was with. The most _sane_ one in this god forsaken place, would suffer as well as he would from the breakdown. It wasn’t about Brainz for once. He didn’t _have_ to be like this… it didn’t matter if he was in his twenties, to Brainz: Burgerpants still seemed like a kid… he didn’t need this. Brainz didn't need to personally traumatize every young soul down here.

 

Brainz shuddered and cringed painfully, forcefully stopping everything its tracks, the laughter skidded to a halt with a painful sounding hiccup, followed by a groan… he took a deep breath and held onto it for a moment.

 

After he let it out slowly, he put his calm and depressed tone back into place.

“F-forgive me. For _that._ I’m sorry. It’s just too much… I just… I _can’t…_ I just-”

 

The tone was already lost, and his true nature spilled out: he still kept it under his breath in volume: a self contained nervous breakdown, increasing in rapidity, the stuttering came back with a vengeance.

“-I-i-i-eeyy, I j-juh-just _can’tfuckingdothisanymore!!_ I just _can’t!_ I fucking-can’t! It just doesn’t fucking stop! I’m not trying to freak you out-”

 

He had to breath, or… hyperventilate for three hurried pants, while the air felt heavier all of a sudden.

“-I can’t…  I-i-i-Iey- just- _fuck it’s getting hard to breathe…”_

 

He tugged on his collar and struggled, a whisper to himself.

“-jesus christ, can’t fucking breathe.”

 

 

“Hey-hey-hey! Relax, buddy! Calm down! Here- you need another one?”

Burgerpants had grabbed one of Brainz’s shoulders and brandished another cigarette for him to see, Brainz took notice of it, but couldn’t get himself to speak: but he nodded and took it, discovering it was already lit before he’d reach for his lighter, he took a drag and was able to control himself again. When he was able to talk, he leaned on the counter and shook his head, wisps of smoke coming out with his words.

“Sorry… sorry, I’m alright…  thanks....I just need to- I just need a sec… it really is a lot to… _process…_ have I said that I haven’t slept in days?”

 

“Don’t worry about it, I know how that freakout goes, I’ve weathered panic attacks before… just take it easy, you’re fine with me. (I) Know you must have a lot on your plate, maybe I shouldn’t have pushed it all on you…”

 

It finally got to Brainz, that last sentence: the cigarette, just the absolute lack of persecution or judgement… he couldn’t take it anymore without saying anything, especially when he knew he’d miss his chance to. He removed his carcinogen and looked Burgerpants dead in the eyes, the realest look he’d ever given… this was about to become a real talk. Something he’d never imagined doing down here… but when did his predictions ever come true?

“Dude… I know I said this already… but _you-_ you’re the best thing I’ve fucking come across for a _long_ fucking time. **_I’m not even talking about *Just Down here*_ ** I fucking mean, in _years…_ you’re the best person I’ve met, in a _long_ time…”

 

Burgerpants made a nervous, humbled kind of grin and chuckled modesty: scratching the back of his head.

“Psh… oh c’mon now... you don’t really mean that.”

 

Brainz jumped right on that rebuttal.

“Yes I do! I’ve never been more goddamned _sure_ of myself yet! Out of everyone down here, you are like the _only_ **_NORMAL_ ** person! I’m serious, One-hundred percent.”

 

Burgerpants only grinned with more discomfort.

“I think with all due respect, you may be a little delusional. I’m just a guy selling burgers for a living: that’s all.”

 

Brainz pointed the same hand with the cigarette at him, it was like his arm was spring loaded he did it so quickly.

“Don’t short sell yourself! If _everyone_ down here was like you, this wouldn’t be happening! How does someone like you even occur to these idiots? I didn’t think someone like you could exist down here, but here you are: the chillest motherfucker I’ve ever met in my life.”

 

“Ahhh gee… buddy, I don’t know what to say…”

 

Burgerpants found it a little hard to keep his eyes on Brainz, as they rolled around the room, he had to itch the back of his neck. Brainz though, exhaled sharply.

“Take it from me… the **“Harbinger of Death”** you’re like, the only person I actually want to get outta here with me, like: I actually want to take you with me, if I wasn’t sure I was going to die, I so would.”

 

That wasn’t exceptionally true, but he didn’t need to clarify that.

 

“You for real?”

 

“ **_Yes._ ** I so fucking am, if people didn’t flip their shit over you being a talking cat: you’d fit _right_ in… these people down here suck, like they _really_ suck. You’re the goddamned diamond in the rough, buried with all this shit.”

 

“Wow-.”

Brainz made Burgerpants genuinely smile, like a smile that _he_ actually believed in, he actually felt good about himself… and that was good enough for Brainz.

“-ahh man… that’s… I don’t know what to say, I really don’t… aheh… It’s not everyday a customer makes me feel like I'm still worth a damn.”

 

Of course, the moment would pass, and they’d both have to remember the reality they were standing in, you know: the one where Burgerpants was alright with dying, anticipating the end of his world… Brainz caught onto this too, seeing the smile fade from the clerk’s face… his smile went away too, he took another drag of his cigarette and something more forlorn came out of him.

 

“Look, I’m sorry about your life plans getting all… fucked up-.”

 

“Huh, what’s that, buddy?”

 

Brainz articulated more.

“I said, I’m sorry about your dreams, you know: being an actor, _leaving_ this tomb?”

 

Burgerpants just buzzed his lips.

“Eh: like I said, don’t worry about it.”

 

Brainz hadn’t quite heard him, and was continuing on his list of sympathies for this white collar worker.

“-scoring it with those ladies… believe me, I know what _that_ feels like, so much for a “bucket list”.”

 

Burgerpants made a realizing groan, starting with that disappointed “tch” sound, followed by a sigh.

“Ohhh yeah… _that’s_ the thing I’m still hurting on, I really screwed that one up.”

 

“I _hear ya…_ mann…”

 

They both shared a round of sighs and a mutual pause, for both had some heavy thoughts running through them. Brainz would’ve been the first to talk again, making a reluctant point that he really needed to get going, but Burgerpants seemed to let some of his thoughts slip out: in a sort of… griping, perhaps meant for himself.

“... man… I really wanted to be with them… kept thinking “One day I’ll eventually get to it.” But now…-”

 

Another sigh.

 

Again, Brainz was about to say something, but: couldn’t help but hear another gripe under the cat’s breath.

“-didn’t think anyone could make overalls look good…”

 

Brainz went with it, raising his brow some.

“Yeah?”

 

He didn’t seem to be noticed, Burgerpants was in some kind of self obsessive trance.

“-... always wondered how someone who picks through trash all day keeps her hair so perfectly curled, or so bright…”

 

Brainz still went with it, but the puzzled look on his face eventually scrunched up.

“Uhh… _yeah??...”_

 

(...)

 

Then he spoke up, not passive enough for Burgerpants to ignore.

“ **Wait.”**

Burgerpants turned to him, broken out of his own woes.

“Hmm? I was just- what’s up?”

 

Brainz kept his bad eye squinted and began shaking his one finger as the thought came clearer in his head, something was lining up, and he began a game of “20 Questions”

“ _(Talking bout someone with overalls)_ **Black hair?”**

 

  * “Uh… yeah?”



 

Brainz pointed at his intact ear, the one corresponding to the person he was thinking of.

“ **Gold Earring, right here?”**

 

  * “Y- _yeah,_ exactly! How do you-”



“Other one’s a fucking **alligator?”**

 

So now Burgerpants was squinting at him, skeptically almost.

“How do _you_ know that?”

 

Brainz gave a single chuckle for successfully figuring it out and getting on the same page, his tone seemed to lift some: more neutral than depressed.

“Oh, I just _met_ with them, Catty and… uh, **_Bratty,_ ** right?”

 

Burgerpants eyes jumped open like he’d just been pricked with a tack, something about this bit of news was surprising to him, and now _he_ was starting to sound stressed.

“Wait wait-wait, just _met_ them? They still **alive??-”**

 

Then he found himself reeling back something he worried about, quickly ensuring Brainz that-

“-I-i-i-i’m not saying that because I think you _killed_ them or something, but-but, you found them **_alive?”_ **

 

Brainz didn’t seem bothered, just slightly intrigued, he held up one of this thumbs and pointed it to the wall, where on the other side was the alleyway hosting the two girls’ dumpster.

“Yeah! They’re just outside actually… they’re both chilling in a dumpster-”

 

He looked at Burgerpants and felt a strong nod overcome him, seeing the face he made.

“- **_yu-_ ** yeah! I **_know!_ ** The freaking military is too stupid to check the dumpsters, that’s like… the **second oldest** trick in the book!”

 

Burgerpants didn’t agree with him entirely, at least this wasn’t the point he was making that wide eyed face over.

“-No, that’s not: **_they’re OK??”_ **

 

Brainz picked up that solicitous worry in his voice, he could even tell it was part _covetous._ He tried to sound unalarming, realizing the disposition Burgerpants must’ve had for them. If not to jump demeanors.

“Uh- they’re _fine…_ well, they’re both kinda hungry actually: they asked _me_ to get them “Glamburgers” or whatever-”

A digression hit him.

“-what **_IS_ ** a “glamburger” anyway? You said you sell them here? They anything like  _that??_ "

He pointed at the starfait still sitting on the counter.

 

Burgerpants was derailed again and made a disgruntled “ugh” before hopping over the counter and grabbing something from behind it and carelessly slapping it on top. Brainz made a disgusted sneer and pointed at the thing.

“What… is **_that?_ ** ”

 

Burgerpants profoundly gestured to it, forcefully profound: quite sarcastic.

“ _That…_ is a “Glamburger” which, according to my boss: you humans eat them all the time on the surface.”

 

Brainz was appalled and shook his head while his face remained in shock at the soggy and sparkly looking thing, his head shook with such purpose, his bangs had to be moved away from his eyes again.

“Uhhh… I've never seen anything like _ **that before**_ on the surface **_…_ **  is that thing even _edible???_ Are those **_sequins???”_ **

 

Burgerpants nodded scornfully, his arms were crossed and he even added something to Brainz’s observation.

**_“-and glue…”_ **

 

Every instance of the word “glue”, Brainz pronounced three octaves higher than comfortable.

 

“ **_GLUE???_ ** You’re serving people sequins and **_GLUE????- (Holy Sheep shit!)_ ** I hope it’s _non-_ **_toxic_ ** at least! Jesus Christ!”

 

Burgerpants nodded some more, this reaction was expected.

“So you humans, _DON’T_ eat sequins and glue?”

 

He knew what Brainz was going to say, but just not how “passionately” he was goin to say it. Brainz was almost outraged, not for _himself_ , but actually taking the liberty of speaking for **humanity** itself.

“ **UH-** **_NO???_ ** **We** **DON’T?** _What Fuckin moron told you that we DO?”_

 

Burgerpants leaned back with his arms crossed, a huge grin took over him.

“(I _fucking_ knew it)”

 

Brainz didn’t catch it correctly, he assumed it was a name.

“ **_Who??”_ **

 

Burgerpants kept that expression on his face and spoke to Brainz with a new smugness, something born out of catharsis.

“That would be my **_boss,_** Mettaton.”

 

“ _Mettaton_ is a fucking **_idiot!_ ** Who probably deserves to be thrown in **_jail,_ ** this shit’s **_criminal!_ ** You can’t serve this to people! I would _know!_ I’ve eaten out of the trash of like… every fast food franchise in the country, and I’ve never seen anything like _this…”_

 

Brainz took another look at the “Glamburger” seeing an excess white paste seeping out from between the buns.

“ _Eeeeagwgh…_ fucking hell…-”

 

A finger pointed at Burgerpants.

“-Don’t tell me you people actually _eat_ these things-”

 

“Mmmh- **_hm.”_ **

 

“HOW are you guys even _alive?_ How do you even sustain yourselves?! Your shits must be like **_flaming TAR.”_ **

 

Burgerpants stopped the smugness to make a confused noise and hold up his own claw for a question.

“Uhh?”

 

Brainz shut it down immediately, assuming that last statement of his was about to be supplemented.

“Y’know what? Don’t answer that: the less I know about you freaks, the better I think.”

 

Burgerpants put his arm down, Brainz tried to return to their previous topic, calming down and keeping his mind off this new atrocity he discovered.

“ **_Anywho…_ ** those two out back have a serious craving for uh-”

 

The glue was starting to run on the counter, it squelched a bit. Brainz couldn’t get his face to stop squinting.

“-for those… I think, you got another shot at that bucket list of yours.”

 

He didn’t see a lot of confidence or agreement in the cat’s look, Brainz wasn’t one for confidence himself, but considering all he learned here: some things from his world still applied here: perhaps some of _his_ known things would also apply. Desperation was exoptable, you could make people do _anything_ for you, and even if they weren’t willing yet? You could always convince them they were worse off than they thought, he knew fear, and he knew bluffs. Naturally, he could induce fear _with_ a bluff. And hey, _he_ wasn’t going to be the one telling lies.

 

Brainz cleared his throat and put his hand on Burgerpants's shoulder, it felt more uncomfortable than it really was, but he knew this helped the gesture. He wouldn't think of it, so much as the plan he was about to lay out.

“Buddy, those two are hiding in a _dumpster,_ eating a out of a baggie of japanese snacks I had in my pocket forever, you go over there and show them the goods? They’re right in your hands… (you could be in theirs too, if that’s what you’re into).”

 

A large bead of sweat seemed to manifest itself right below the cat’s silly hat.

“Uhhhh… _no…_ I can’t do that, uhh aheh.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Becauuuse…. Uhh, because… **_because:_ ** I can’t give out food for free _or_ leave my job, I’d get fired.”

 

Obviously to Brainz, the unsureness and time it took for him to come up with that, meant it was an _excuse._ But instead of accusing him of such, Brainz would work with what he had. He blew his lips disrespectfully.

“It’s the end of the fuckin world for _you_ , you seriously care more about a dead end _job_ than those chicks out back? Don’t you at least wanna spend whatever hours you got left with em? I mean, you could die with **_one less regret,_ ** I dunno about you, but I’d take that _anyday._ I almost _envy_ you dude.”

 

Burgerpants was still resisting the notion, he sounded very hesitant still, and his face would contort and shift to very indecisive sneers. He made guttural “buffering” sounds, too.

“Eeehhhh… _nnnoo…_ I _reallly_ shouldn’t… what if it happens again: they’d just make fun of me! I.. I really don’t wanna get caught!”

 

Brainz sounded surprised by the reluctance, this should’ve been a sure deal to him, especially from a _sane_ person like Burgerpants.

“ _Dude!_ They ain’t gonna bite the hand that feeds them! And like, your boss? Your work? **_Fuck em!_ ** It doesn’t fucking matter! Where is your boss anyway? He’s probably _dead_ already! So by deductive reasoning, you’re already out of a job by default… and even if you weren’t… I’m your only customer in **_how long?_ ** I think you’re out of business and you don’t know it-”

 

The silent doubt still present in the monster, lead Brainz to change his tone: sounding more friendly and assuring. Like someone trying to convince their inebriated friend to do something ridiculous.

“-Cmoooon man, you wanna spend the rest of your life **_surviving…_ ** or do you wanna **_live???_ ** I gotta do the first, and lemme tell you: it **_SUCKS._ ** Like, hardcore. Don’t end up like me, go for em, dude. Just fucking DO IT… those girls are yours.”

 

“Iiiii… Ieeyy…-”

 

He was on the fence, the inconsistent eye contact and lip biting were proof… just when Brainz thought he broke though, Burgerpants fell to a particularly glum expression and sighed.

“I can’t…”

 

Brainz made an exasperated grunt and backed away.

“What, **_why??”_ **

 

“I _literally_ cannot leave work for _anything,_ not even if the worlds ending.”

 

Brainz made an ugly kind of look, but then a very shifty look, squinting his eyes.

“Is that _so?”_

(..)

 

There was a brief moment nothing happened, but that soon passed, when Burgerpants shouted.

 

_“What’re you DOING?!”_

 

At this time, Brainz had taken it upon himself to give Burgerpants a bear hug from behind and to lift him up so he couldn’t dig his heels into the dusty floor. He then proceeded towards the door, while the poor monster scrambled as a frightened cat _would._ Brainz tilted his head back to avoid getting clawed in the face and tried to sound nonchalant while straining from the weight and struggling.

“Testing your theory.”

 

Burgerpants tried with all of his might to escape the hold, physically and with reasoning.

“I _told_ you, I **CAN’T!! PUT ME DOWN!”**

 

“Uh-huh, let’s just see about that.”

 

“ **_BRAINZ!!!”_ **

 

“Wouldn’t say that too loud, you may offend someone.”

 

Brainz reached the door and turned himself around, head to the world outside: he managed a good look at the abandoned lobby, no signs of camo green: very good considering the sudden increase in shouting and noises of struggling. Upon a clear inspection, he nudged it open with his head and went to turn around, forcefully exposing Burgerpants to the outside world… at least that’s what the plan was, before something unexpected caused him to fall back on that.

 

Just as a hair of bright orange fur would cross the threshold, a brilliant **cerulean** light struck right in front of his face, as if the door was electrified. It didn’t make a sound, but Brainz sure did as. He left the cat go and fell right onto his back, away from the door. He made a loud whimper before his arms released his “hostage” and went to protect his face as his legs gave away.

 

They both lay on the floor panting, Brainz looked right up from where he was sprawled on his back, seeing the pressurized glass door slowly closing, no sign of electricity, and certainly not **blue.** So when he was done cowering, he piped up.

“The _fuck_ was **_THAT?!”_ **

 

He turned to Burgerpants, who was panting on the floor, his fur color seemed to turn a brighter shade of orange, Brainz was answered right away though: between the breaths.

“I told you… I literally can’t… leave work…”

 

Already, Brainz had gotten up, to his despair: he’d landed right in a pile of one of Burgerpants’s late customer. So after shaking himself off and shuddering, Brainz tried the door with new caution. Testing the threshold with his insulated boot and eventually sticking half of his body through it. He didn’t notice Burgerpants coming up to it.

“Look out, watch.”

 

He backed away and let Burgerpants get near it again, and watched the electric field materialize again, his eyes widened again, while Burgerpants seemed to calm down, despite the excitement. Brainz cringed at the visible teslas and backed off, the cat just turned his head to him and returned to his point.

“It only does it for me: look-”

 

Burgerpants pulled on his collar and parted the fur, to reveal a metallic looking collar affixed to his neck: it was pink and black: and studded with (faux) diamonds and blinking lights. A decorative PR nightmare, but if you’re not human, you don’t need to honor human rights, now do you?

“-boss made me wear this ever since the burger incident.”

 

Brainz dwelled on something horrible for a moment, turning a shade pale himself.

“Oh my god, I almost _fried_ you!”

 

But then the real bad guy of the situation occurred to him, before he could blame himself: he got angry at Mettaton.

“A **_shock_ ** collar though?! Are you **_KIDDING ME?!_ ** Hasn’t your boss ever heard of the fucking **“TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST COMPANY?!”**

 

“What’s that?”

 

Brainz made a quick digression from his anger and put his finger to his chin.

“Oh yeah, I guess you guys wouldn’t know about that but-”

 

Then he was right back to his rant, arms swinging and everything.

“-but you **_DON’T_ ** lock in your **_EMPLOYEES!!_ ** If your boss hasn’t died yet, I’m gonna kick his ass! This is _horseshit!”_

 

Burgerpants just shrugged.

“It is what it is, but hey: if _you_ wanna bring them some glamburgers for me, I’d reall-”

 

“ **Nope!** Not gonna happen, I ain’t getting in on your business.”

 

“Oh, _cmon_ : you convinced me enough to help them, and now you don’t-”

 

Brainz shushed him-

“Hold up a sec.”

 

Brainz failed to realize until now that his duffel bag he’d dropped for the time being, landed on top of a dust pile: caking the underside of it with dead monster residue and spreading the stuff all over the place. He shook the bag and watched some of the heavier clumps fall off.

“(Eww)”

 

He opened it up and began to search for something, Burgerpants watched and withheld any comments as Brainz fumbled through his things, a minute of fruitless searching did not lead to disappointment, but realization that the thing he was looking for was in his pocket. Brainz grabbed the plastic handle of his decommissioned screwdriver. Once intended to assist in reloading his handgun, the same one he gave away… it wasn’t completely out of a job though… he found a completely new purpose for it. He gestured with his open hand, by flapping his fingers towards him.

“C’mere.”

 

Burgerpants was a little more wary of this human, considering what he just tried to do.

“What’re you doing? What do you got there?”

 

Brainz wouldn’t to the straightforward thing and just tell him, that wouldn’t suit him. He had to be mysterious and a glutton for quick handed trust.

“Just come here already.”

 

Burgerpants squinted at him and didn’t comply.

“ _What_ are you going to do?”

 

Brainz gave in and showcased the tool, waving it around willfully.

“I’m gonna do you a favor, now come _here,_ already.”

 

He’d eventually mosey his way over to the cat when Burgerpants didn’t react fast enough, it wasn’t like he had anywhere to go through… he did fidget some, especially seeing that Brainz was trying to grab him again.

“What’re you doin- _stop that!_ You’re gonna get me- _mmf!”_

 

Brainz grabbed a hold of the hideous collar from the back of the employee’s neck, Burgerpants could only feel it tightening on him, and couldn’t see what Brainz was doing, it made the experience all the more uncomfortable. The squirming made it harder for Brainz.

“Just hold _still_ a sec! Just stop squirreling around, I’m not gonna **_hurt_ ** you or anything!-”

 

He lost his temper and flared the command again.

“- _just hold still_ **_goddammit!”_ **

 

The cat did, he did for just long enough… long enough to feel Brainz to wedge the flat end of the tool between the imposing collar and his fur, he heard Brainz counting to three and felt a need to cringe when he got there… then he heard a loud **_*SNAP!*_ ** and the sensation around his neck was gone, Brainz let go of him and he ducked his head into his shoulders, shuddering some. Burgerpants then turned to him and the anxiety rang through him.

 

“Wha-what’d you _do??_ What _was_ that?”

 

Brainz, had nothing to say for the moment: just a plain expression, then… he held out his arm, palm out and presenting something ugly in his hand. The collar was manually unlocked and was sitting in a heap in his hand. Burgerpants’s jaw dropped, he stared at Brainz and the inactive “leash”.

 

Brainz then spoke, sounding very accomplished.

“Here’s your resignation.”

 

And then he spun around and whipped the eye sore device behind the counter, watching it collide with the tiled wall, the blinking and electrical bits shattering into pieces with a small spark. He turned back around.

“There, so now that you’re suddenly free, how does looting from your old job to hang out with some girls on your last day sound?”

 

“You… you just… y-yo…”

 

Burgerpants was stuck on the fact the collar was gone, trying in vain to find it buried under his fur, sputtering and twitching. His fur was almost yellow he'd turned so pale, like he was a chameleon

“I-i… he’s gonna… I-i.”

 

Brainz let the guy come to terms, he expected this: a life of servitude creates such complacency: so much that it may be hard to believe it all just abruptly stopped.  He gathered his bag and straightened himself up, preparing himself to get back to his business, but still waiting on Burgerpants.

 

When the monster finally got to addressing Brainz again, he did so with those very wide eyes and absolutely awe stricken expression.

“H-how… how did you **_do_ ** that??”

 

Brainz shrugged, not really considering his feat as… well, a _feat,_ he brought the now bent screwdriver out and showed it.

“All I did was lever this into the joint, your boss’s design was as crappy as it was hideous, all I had to do was-”

 

And he replicated the motion, making a chopping motion with his other hand.

“-and then _pop!_ You’re suddenly on sabbatical.”

 

“But… that… collar, it was… that thing was magically _sealed…_ so that only _he_ could…”

 

Brainz interrupted him with a  laugh that came out through his closed lips: they flapped together.

“Yeah? Well your boss’s _“magic”_ was a shitty belt buckle, no match for the magic of a screwdriver, _here_ : have a souvenir-”

 

Brainz underhandedly tossed the tool Burgerpants’s way. He probably didn't need it anymore. The ex-employee was stockstill and the screwdriver bounced off of him and clattered to the floor.

“-nice catch.”

 

But the cat took no notice, he was content to stand there completely paused, he didn’t even notice Brainz walking over to him and taking another liberty, to push the silly looking hat off his head.

 

“There ya go-”

* * *

 

Brainz even patted the cat on the shoulder.

“- aight, so… I’m gonna have to skedaddle now, see how far I can get in there-”

 

The core.

 

“-but um, _Burgerpants_ It was a damn privilege to meet you: you’re a goddamn saint, my man-”

 

He grabbed one of the cat’s drooping paws and shook it with both of his hands. (He made sure to wipe them on his pants first, it was more a gesture than anything)

 

“-Hope everything goes well with those two out back: and uh-”

He jumped to a new thought, shaking his one hand and finger.

 

“-tell ya _what._ If by some means you find a way out of here: by _any_ means… find me… actually no, I’ll find **_you-_ ** I’ll owe you an icy cold one, and I’ll get you sorted.... provided I don't die either."

 

By that last expression, Brainz meant he was going to get Burgerpants a new job somehow… never mind the logistics or details, it wasn’t like that was going to happen… but because he considered it… now it may, and he’d almost love for his words to come back to bite him in this case. Brainz gave Burgerpants one more set of rousing pats and pushed the glass doors open.

“Good luck, man: if anything else, I’ll see you in hell… consider it, your _severance.”_

Brainz cackled under his breath and left the restaurant.

 

The glass doors slowly swung to a close, and just like that: Burgerpants was all alone again, whenever he would get over standing there with that expression frozen on his face: he’d probably remedy himself to not be so alone… but for now: he was stalled, still reeling from the catastrophic events that befell upon him, instigated from this lunatic of a human.

 

* * *

 

The lobby was just as empty as he left it, those soldiers _still_ weren’t back yet…

“Hmm, wonder what’s taking them so long… maybe they’re waiting for me, how sweet…”

 

That sarcastic thought aside, Brainz cracked his knuckles: loosened himself up and produced his new handgun… he took one final look behind and at his surroundings… then proceeded to the aptly lit doors.

**CORE**

 

“Welp… if I’m gonna die, it’s gonna be in _there…_ hmph-”

 

Brainz took a long breath to prep himself and proceeded inside.

“-this is gonna be interesting…”

 

[Do you smell ozone? (Soundtrack)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yen4QGoLse4)

 

**41:15:20**

**41:15:19**

**41:15:18**

**...**

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Please pardon that this took so long to get out, as well as for being so long... and potentially a drag.  
> It didn't feel right to split this into two parts.
> 
> But don't worry, if you felt this has been going rather slow lately... things are gonna ramp up a bit.


	7. .Nᴼᴮᴼᴰᵞ is Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ᴺᴼᴮᴼᴰᵞ is here, too.

“I am _so_ dead! _Hnnng!..._ huh?”

Brainz stopped barreling through the entrance, he expected an entourage of soldiers to blindside him as soon as he swung those doors open. But there was nobody there, just a lone and ominous looking path leading into a gigantic metal structure. An eerie glow emanated from within.

“Oh… ok.”

 

Brainz looked around awkwardly and scratched his head.

“The hell is everyone?”

 

He shrugged and took it for what it was, he was still alive, and still able to proceed.

“Oh _well,_ guess we’ll keep going.”

 

He entered the CORE without further hesitation.

 

 

“Hoo… lee- _shit…”_

His first reaction to the new environment sounded neutral, because there was no emotion that could suit it. Brainz stood in an entryway of sorts, and he took in the new vicinity. If he thought that one section of HOTLAND looked metal and sci-fi: then he’d need new words to describe _this_ place.

 

The presence of reinforced steel and slick metal plating was greatly exaggerated over the last place, not single crude or natural looking structure: not so much as a rock. The floors themselves looked like gigantic circuit boards. Those crazy lines etched into them. And the lights, there were flashing lights and diodes, and LEDs, and screens with indecipherable text all over the place.

 

“This just became a sci fi movie, like for _real:_ this is an alien spaceship if I ever saw one… sure doesn’t _smell_ like one though… damn.”

 

Brainz had to take some strong whiffs, his nose was always runny and whenever that wasn’t bothering him, he was congested. But the scent here was able to make its way all through that. He scrunched his nose.

“Smells like it’s about to rain in here.”

 

On a better day he would’ve known it was **_ozone_ ** he was smelling, but the improbable outcome that it would rain in here, especially with a fixed ceiling, seemed more likely considering this entire place. But that wasn’t the most pressing detail, Brainz had a very distinct _metallic_ taste in his mouth, it wasn’t bleeding again... It was the air.  As for how the air _felt,_ it was a little warm in here, not nearly as bad as hotland: but it made him long for the air conditioned resort after just ten seconds.

From nowhere specific, the sound of electronic klaxon bells rang twice, Brainz cringed from the jarring nature of it, but then he was greeted to a voice. Impossible to dictate where it came from, as it came from the walls themselves, sounding autonomous and electronic.

 

 _ATTENTION:_ SECONDARY. COOLING. SYSTEM. **OFFLINE**. ANY. TECHNICIAN. PLEASE. REPORT. TO. SNOWDEN.

 

The words had a brief pause between them, the tone was monotonous and harsh.

“Jesus… now I _know,_ it’s a sci fi movie… this place is ridiculous… but.. whatever... -”

 

Brainz brought out the map from his pocket and unfolded it.

“-this shouldn’t take too long to get through here: I just gotta take theee-”

 

He held the word as he looked up and ahead, to see the elevator that had been prophesied on the map was right before him. However, he didn’t seem all too happy to see it, any positivity in his voice droned out.

“- _elevatoooor….._ Hmn..”

 

The doors were wide open, revealing a vacant car just for him to take, A couple hours ago, this would’ve been a great thing… but now… Brainz was realizing something more sinister… he groaned.

“Oh noo… I _can’t_ take this, they’re gonna be watching it…”

 

Then he told off the inviting lift for what he _knew_ it was.

“This is a _trap!”_

 

Another message from the omnipresent voice served to interrupt him, forcing his thoughts to wait, it started with the two alarm bells.

 _ATTENTION:_ PRIMARY. COOLANT. SYSTEM. AT. ONE HUNDRED. PERCENT. CAPACITY. CORE. THROTTLED. TO. SEVENTY. PERCENT. DR. ALPHYS. PLEASE. REPORT. TO. CORE CONTROL ROOM. ALPHA.

 

The name wasn’t important to him anymore, Brainz had to focus on _now._ He pushed the message out of his head and waited for his ears to stop ringing.

 

Brainz looked back at his map, specifically at the lack of side paths here, when he drew it, it depended solely on the elevator here being an option: he’d be blind if he walked into the CORE, wandering around while there could be god knows how many soldiers armed with machine guns and bad attitudes.

“Ohh fuck… what am I gonna do…. I didn’t _think_ of this!-”

 

Brainz lightly battered himself on his forehead, with the map clenched in his fists. Silently shouting under his breath.

“-stupid, stupid, _stupid!_ Fuck!”

 

As if it wasn’t enough that he was once again between a rock and a hard place: the world decided it also wanted to revoke his privilege to think of it. Brainz looked up from his hands when he heard the sound of an electronic chime coming from the car… he saw the opportunity shrink as the doors began to close.

 

What he did next had nothing to do with thought, it was an impulse… Brainz launched himself into the car, just sliding through the closing aperture, had had to free one of his bag’s straps from the closed doors. He got up and brushed himself off as the car hummed gently, a small bout of relief came to him… but that was quickly overshadowed. Brainz convulsed into a twitch.

“Why did I fucking do that?!!”

 

Considering the elevator was moving without input from him… that had to mean one thing: somebody called it… and _that_ would mean…

“-I’m gonna bump right into them, what was I fucking _thinking?!!”_

 

He reserved the rest of his panic-

 

As to not be heard of course

 

-into an infuriated grunt that had him punching one of the walls with his elbow, and wincing accordingly.

 

“Fuck- fuck- _fuck!_ WhatamIgonnado!?

Some part of him already made up his mind, and before he even finished that sentence, Brainz went for the buttons and in true panicking fashion, pressed every single one. It is was in similar hopes that the elevator would stop and open up on a different, uninhabited floor. He’d have to figure out what to do by then, but it was leagues better than being caught.

 

The car jerked to a rough halt, it sounded off with an alarm bell: one of the buttons Brainz was so inclined to press: the _red_ one, wasn’t a floor so much as the **EMERGENCY STOP** button. Brainz reeled appropriately.

“ _OooooOOOoooh!_ **_SHIT!”_ **

 

Ironically, the lift stopping actually escalated this even farther, _now_ he was certainly trapped, with a good procession of bells and alarms to ensure everybody would know of this. Good thinking…

 

Being he was thinking this small room as a tomb now, it felt infinitely more claustrophobic, Brainz pushed on the walls and paced frantically in the little walking room he had.

 

“Ok-ok. **_THINK…_ ** uhhh… uhh-”

 

He looked up at the fluorescent ceiling tiles, searching for an escape hatch, there wasn’t anything in the floor either, he growled frustratedly.

“ _Rrrgnh!_ Because _that_ would mean they’d have to put actual **ladders** or use **elevator cables!** Silly me! I should’ve known!... What the fuck am I gonna do?!”

 

Then the lights went out and the entire car shifted, he could hear the constant buzzing weaken until it was gone, his tomb was pitch black for a few moments-

“Oh _PERFECT!_ That’s **_just_ ** what I need!”

 

-but a low glare filled the room. Some kind of backup, emergency set, the light was lousy: but he’d just become appreciative of sight.

 

His last idea came to mind, he didn’t have very high hopes for it considering everything: but it was all he could do besides wait to die. Brainz swapped out his handgun for the crowbar, and immediately forced it into the crease between the car doors.

 

They groaned from the exertion, he did to: getting louder as he put more effort into it.

“ _HHnnnnnnnGGgggg, RRRGGH- (Cmon god-_ **_dammit!)_ ** the sound of his struggling strained the back of his throat. Brainz pushed the tool, and could feel the veins sticking up from under his skin.

“-come… _ooooOOOOO_ **_OOOON!!”_ **

 

He yelled desperately, and as if someone or something had heard his plea, he overpowered the locking mechanism on the doors: after a loud shifting sound: the doors slid open without much resistance. The outcome was both miraculous, but it also posed another challenge.

 

Another set of doors, the exterior doors of a floor… albeit he was only seeing the bottom half of them: but it was still **_possible._ ** Brainz couldn’t even voice his gratitude, he was still having trouble voicing his relief. He had time to do that later, right now he had to overcome the weakness in his limbs and pull off another feat. Brainz slid his bag off of him and stood on it so he wouldn’t have to reach so high for the next set of doors. He couldn’t see any definition of mass under the doors, and trusted that there was nothing below: if he tripped, he’d fall out of the elevator and out of existence. Brainz stuck his fingers between the metal doors and pulled. These ones gave away, but wouldn’t stay open without his help.

 

As for where they lead to, it was dark, pitch black except for the bit of light that seeped from the elevator, which traveled all of six inches, Brainz wanted to take it right away: but he needed to make sure it _went_ somewhere first… it didn’t help he could feel heat coming from it.

“Ok… ok, may be in business, here… lemme just-”

 

He let the doors slide closed and Brainz dismounted from his belongings, he stepped back up and pried the doors open again, and stuck his flashlight through them this time.

 

“Well… this _goes_ somewhere at least, can’t say I _like_ where it goes-”

 

The corridor before him was a stark contrast to what he took in outside the elevator, it was cramped: and not from the myriad of pipes and tubes that took the walls, not even for the large support beams that protruded from the ceiling. Even without everything in the way it would’ve been cramped: it couldn’t have been built more than five feet tall, and Brainz could probably reach both walls if he held his arms out. As for the aesthetics? Well, everything Brainz saw up there-

The entrance to the core.

-must’ve been nothing _but_ aesthetics, it was the fair skin of the place: and where Brainz ended up: the guts inside. Old worn out metal, everything looked like it was colored a shade of gray, and caked with rust. He’d deduce it was some kind of maintenance subfloor or something not intended for the general public. 

“- but It’s not like I can be picky.”

 

He lay the flashlight on the floor above to illuminate it for him, Brainz began to try to gain some traction to hoist himself out, that’s when the elevator shook again, and the tremor came with the overhead lights coming back on. It was coming back to life… the inner doors tried to come to a close, but they collided with his arms and retreated.

“ _Shit,_ this thing’s trying to move again! _I_ gotta move! _”_

 

Brainz scrambled and scuffed up the closest wall to him as he tried to climb, it took more upper body strength than below, but he managed to slink out from the shifting box, he made sure to hook one strap from his bag onto his foot, and he pulled his inventory out with him. Just missing the car’s doors clamping shut, he had to fidget himself to get out from between the external ones.

 

He rolled onto his back, the light from inside the cab was gone as its humming sound faded away. Brainz caught his breath and let himself stay on the floor for a bit.

“Oof… well that’s better, with any luck I’ve bought myself ten minutes… aight.”

 

He got to his feet and felt the need to brush himself off: noting an accumulation of schmutz up his back and arms… and the silhouette he left behind showed a contrast of cleanliness.

“Eugh… I guess no one’s been here in… in…”

 

He was going to continue that train of thought as he straightened himself out: just a note, everytime he “straightened” himself out, it consisted of checking for new wounds, while inspecting how the old ones were holding up, finishing with an obsessive catalogue of his things. Well, he got up to the last bit and.

“- where’s the crowbar?-”

 

Brainz patted himself almost painfully, he looked all over the floor while turning himself around and around. The second time he asked it, he sounded a little hungrier for an answer.

“- **_where_ ** is it?”

 

The bag was rifled through… in vain. Now he sounded desperate.

“Where. The **fuck.** Is it?! Where the **_fuck_ ** is my fucking crowbar?! Anyone gonna _tell_ me where the FUCK it went?!”

 

Before he’d even expect anyone to answer that… it came to him: Brainz suddenly knew exactly where it was… on the floor of the elevator where he forgot to pick it up again… covered with his fingerprints, and perhaps dried blood.

 

“Oh… _nooooo,_ Nnooo, **nooo!!!!”**

 

If he wanted it to be more incriminating, he’d have to attach a note to it: something along the lines of

**_BRAINZ WASN’T HERE_ **

**_-Formally signed by BRAINZ_ **

**_-Dictated, not Read._ **

 

 **“** **_FUCK!”_ **

Brainz stopped fruitlessly looking through his bag and threw his arms up in the air. He shook his head rather indignantly, one fell turn, as he closed up his things and tried to make himself move.

“Well just fucking _GREAT!_ Not only did I leave behind the only _useful_ thing I found down here, but I just left it for the fucking _military_ to find!!" 

 

He suffered a cringe that made him hunch over more than he already had to, covering his head with his hands, an exasperated growl that he held for a new record of thirteen seconds slipped out from inside of him. His previous best: a yell lasting **nine** seconds, was thanks to Sans riling him up so much.

 

Brainz panted gruffly, then sighed, returning to his brand of normalcy.

“ _Okaay…_ whatever… let’s just get out of here… I’ll have plenty of time to burn myself for it when I’m dead.”

 

He made sure to pick up his flashlight, did a triple check of his things: and proceeded.

 

* * *

 

“What even  _is_ this place?...”

Brainz had to proceed down the linear corridor at a snail’s pace: not only was it built for oompa loompas, and not only was it full of pipes, conduits, and girders, some were almost directly in the way: but it was in _terrible_ shape. There were various forms of boxes, and piles of building materials, other forms of debris: just littering the floor. Brainz would have to stop and watch the ceiling for low hanging pipes or the floor for something else to trip on. Not to mention, it looked _old_ and _worn_ out. He already knew he was the first person here in years, it didn’t bring him good tidings.

 

Strangely enough, this was the most bizarre place he’d stumbled upon yet: but for the fact it resembled the closest to a human structure, being a partially abandoned industrial design.

 

He was almost astonished.

“God damn… what the hell did they _do_ here?.. Ugh… my head-”

 

It was hot and stuffy, the air felt _“stiff”_ and the smell of ozone was so potent, his head was swimming in it. It didn’t help that he could hear all octaves of whirring and humming noises from just beyond the walls, it was loud and the corridor seemed to carry and amplify anything it picked up.

But the air itself… there was something visibly present in it, at least in the glare of his maglight: it actually clouded the light enough that it harmed its effective range. It was like smoke, but odorless… at least not over the ozone smell…

“- _this_ can’t be healthy for my lungs…”

 

He moved on some more, the next speedbump in his way would come in the form of an all new set of sounds from behind the stressed metal walls. At first, he couldn’t distinguish it as anything but the ambient sounds of this place, but then he started to make out an attitude and words despite the muffling. Some disgruntled deep voice coming in.

“- _theres_ the fucking sign again! Twentieth fucking time! Doesn’t matter where we go, _all_ roads lead back to here.”

 

There was another voice too, it sounded more anxious than anything.

“We are in such a world of shit, we are gonna get in so much trouble…”

 

The first one came back, angrier.

“I **_know!_ ** We were supposed to get back to the lobby an **_hour_ ** ago! But this place is a fucking MAZE!! It _certainly_ doesn’t help that out of **_every_ ** room in this goddamn mind trip, **_this_ ** place fucks with the radios.”

 

Brainz stifled a gasp and tried to hold his breath when he realized what he was hearing, the people who were supposed to come across him back at the resort, paused for a moment… mere _feet_ away from where he was. He couldn’t move, risk any noise… he had to wait. Brainz heard the sound of static crackle in, as well as the first voice piping up,

 

“This is sergeant Kabou with surge squad, we’re still traversing the CORE: and we are lost, does _anybody_ **copy?** Over-.”

 

Nothing but static the sound of a distorted signal, Brainz heard an exasperated sigh.

“What did I expect? Guess we’ll… _try again_ the next time we circle to this stupid sign… this place makes no-”

 

The man stopped at first for what seemed to be an undeducable reason, but then Brainz heard the sound of incoming footsteps: _fast_ too… the owner was panting and the footsteps stopped right beyond the wall.

“Sarge!... there you are!... _finally!”_

 

The new voice didn’t sound so much impatient as he did, relieved, perhaps relieved that he stopped running. Sergeant Kabou answered that while the man caught his breath.

“Tralster! Hot _damn_ it’s good to see somebody _else_ in this funhouse! Where the hell did you _come_ from???”

 

“Tralster’s” pants grew louder and more frantic, with more of his voice seeping into them: it was as if he was trying to answer but couldn’t out of lack of oxygen. The pants would evolve into snippets of words.

“Hold… hold on sir… I just… -”

 

Brainz heard a throat clear.

“-we’ve been looking for you… nobody's been able to reach you!”

 

Kabou sounded exasperated.

“I _know!_ This goddamn place is messing with the radios, I can’t get _anything…_ and this place makes no fucking sense! It’s not my fault, when suddenly “Three lefts don’t make a right, they actually bring you back to the 5th left on the right!” We’ve been _trying_ to find our way out, but we _can’t_ when this place is _bullshit!”_

 

The man seemed too eager to respond, sounding nervous as all ever.

“We know, we know! It’s not that, you’re not in trouble-”

 

The voice that was with Kabou reminded Brainz it still existed, and spoke.

“What’s going on?”

 

“The elevator… by the east sector… it got stuck again: when we got it going… we found something!”

 

Brainz felt goosebumps and his face stretched into a anxious frown.

 

Kabou didn’t sound completely on board, not with the urgency.

“What?”

 

The man answered, still on the short side of his breath.

“Crowbar… looked like somebody forced the doors open with it, buncha muddy footprints on the walls, like somebody had a hell of a time getting out.”

 

Yep… he knew it was related to him, but hearing it still made him cringe, exhaling sharply but quietly as he grimaced.

(Oh boy…)

 

Kabou still didn’t seem excited.

“Doesn’t mean it’s him, does it?”

 

Tralster had his own question.

“It’s not related to you either?”

 

“No, we’ve been walking around for upwards of an hour… nothing on the elevator… but do you _really_ think it’s him?”

 

“Yours is the only squad here… besides mine, nobody else _could_ … so… yeah: it’s definitely Brainz… **he’s in here somewhere…”**

 

The unnamed soldier of the group sounding like he was shuddering.

“Oohh man… when was this?”

 

“Just now...  they’re getting **“Clasp” “Quartz”** and **“Solder”** squad down here: watch every exit… you guys, they still want you in the lobby: gotta cover the elevators.”

 

Kabou finally changed his attitude, but there was still a hint of annoyance, but he did seem like he was trying to put it aside, being more important matters were afoot.

“You have any idea how to get there?? Like I said, we’ve been stuck here…”

 

“Uh, yeah: go back the way you came and make a left and-”

 

“Nuh-nonon-no, I aint gonna risk that shit, why don’t you take us there: just in case this place has it for us, if you’ve had such an easy time getting through then you must-”

 

 _Another_ set of hurried footsteps approached, and the voice that came with them, belonged to a woman, admittedly it was more a surprise to Brainz than he’d think.

“Tralster, you found em? Well hurry up! The lobby aint our place, and we can’t move to our designation until you guys get your asses there!”

 

Tralster was the one to acknowledge her.

“Private Greaves, good to see you: didn’t think your squad would arrive already…”

 

“We came with Solder, Quartz is still coming from the lower Hotlands, damn elevators are acting up… can’t trust them to work more than once at a time, and the assholes who built this place haven't discovered "stairs" yet..., did you inform them already?”

 

There was some irritation in the response.

“ _Yes.._ just did… since you gotta grab your squad in the lobby, can you escort Surge squad back there? They’ve been having trouble figuring this place.”

 

“Uhh, sure?? I mean it’s just a left back-”

 

Tralster already dealt with the repercussions of explaining, he stopped her.

“Just, take them please.”

 

“Ookay? Well let's go then: where are _you_ off to?”

 

Tralster’s voice had already gained some distance, he must’ve already made for his destination, but Brainz could just make him out.

“Other exit! On the receiving end of the elevators.”

 

Then there were more footsteps, they departed, growing quieter with every second, the last voice Brainz could hear was something of a remark, probably from the Sergeant.

“This place… is some Scooby Doo Bullshit.”

  
And then they were gone...

And then there was Brainz. He exhaled heavily and felt his head trying to go through the ceiling, he took some real breaths for air again once he was sure they were gone and wouldn’t hear the walls breathing raspily.

 

He groaned from the discomfort that came with depriving himself of air, as well as the bleak realization that his bleak prediction actually came true… supporting the bleak feeling he had that only his unfortunate scenarios came true. In all, the whole situation was bleak just like his existence.

 

“Well… can’t say I didn’t see this coming-”

 

He did expect this, but it still bothered him… really it would bother anybody to know there were people who explicitly wanted you dead… and now because of his blunder, there were going to be _more_ people around here who wanted him explicitly dead.

“-and here I thought the monsters took the spotlight… good to see the USA hasn’t forgotten about me… I’m _flattered…_ ”

 

There wasn’t much more to say on the matter, he already had his episode regarding the military: any development on them was starting to feel numb, just _another_ problem for him to worry about, he’ll file it with the others.

 

Proceeding…

 

The dingy environment in here didn’t seem so bad all of a sudden, the darkness and stuffy feeling: while your enemies were right next to you: reminded him of shimmying through ventilation ducts, while they searched for you in the room below. Unaware you were hiding right under their noses, by hiding above their noses. At least he had _some_ reprieve, being alone and all… really the only concern he had was not knowing where he was really going… mainly hoping he’d find an exit or a hatch… or a window, or _something…_

 

…

 

“Whoa! What- is _this??”_

 

The narrow passageway lost it’s absolute linearity, when he came across a four way junction, he’d made the decision to go _left,_ judging the choices by the amount of clutter in the way where the left was the least offensive. It in itself had another junction for him in which he made _another_ left, reprising his judgements. However, this path had something out of the ordinary for him… in the form of a bright orange glow just up ahead.

 

From the strain on his vision, Brainz couldn’t make it out from a “safe” distance, he did approach it: after getting his gun ready and crossing his arms: supporting the gun hand on the one holding the flashlight. People did it in movies, and it make them look cool and professional… he had no idea if it actually helped. As he neared on it, it didn’t seem to move: but to grow in height as he was able to focus on it better… he repeated his first inquiry, but more… passive.

“What… _is_ this?”

 

He was close enough now, the area had adopted a heavier concentration of old and rusty pipes knotting and tangling up with each other, as well as sagging chains hanging from the ceiling… their purpose was indeterminate… but what took his attention, was the pillar of fire in the middle of the room.

 

“Its… it’s a _tube…?”_

It looked like clear pipe just… stuck in the center of the hallway: that was the best he could decree: the fire inside of it was so bright he couldn’t even stare directly into it: it was like liquid sun. Brainz then had a connection.

“Wait… it’s like its _lava…_ from… from the volcano…!”

 

That was the best he could do, the pattern of shifting colors and glowing consistencies looked like lava… there just one problem: it was all _gray!_ ”

 

“Lava isn’t _gray!_ It’s **RED…** and orange… and.. Uh… yellow… then again-”

 

He recalled the magma he saw earlier, when he entered Hotland, it did look a little… **desaturated,** a little too weak on the colors… but… this stuff was completely without color: just like everything else in here, his hands were redder than this stuff.

 

Regardless…. Of what color it was. He was almost at a loss for words, he _certainly_ was at a loss for discrediting monsters for everything.

“-that’s actually kind of amazing that they figured how to do that… but (is) this even _safe?_ I mean-”

 

He stuck out his one arm, closer to the tube.

“- I can feel the heat from _here!_ And-”

 

He lowered his flashlight, as it was only helping a glare from some reflective surface get in his eyes, when he did that: he was able to see the bright particles floating through the air… they looked like sparks or dissipating embers emanating from the pipe. As if seeping through pinholes in it. Brainz brought his arm back and rubbed the sleeve habitually… while partially cringing at the pipe… more so at the idea of instant **_4th degree burns._ **

 

[ **__ ** ](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/453304301637337090/529408975125610509/PicsArt_12-31-03.22.05.png)

 

“-how is this even remotely possible? That the lava wouldn’t even melt the-”

 

-Didn’t Brainz already disregard caring about things being _“possible”_ down here?

 

He sighed and droned.

“ _Yes…”_

 

-Where he wasn’t supposed to waste his time analyzing how-

“ _Alright already!_ I said **_yes!_** I’m not gonna question it! (God!)”

 

In that same regard, he _did_ convince himself to continue walking, towards the pipe: he knew questioning his decision and turning back mostly likely would cause troubles… and if by any means: this pre-existing pipe of molten earth decided it wanted to fail the moment he got near it: the lava would disintegrate him before he could say “ouch”  

 

The radiating heat made him terribly nervous and uncomfortable, and he pressed himself against the farthest wall from the pipe: but he was able to get passed it with no incident. His relief was palpable, but then he had to sigh with relief…

 

A bright light suddenly flashed right beside his face, it made a jarring _buzzing_ sound. Brainz made a startled grunt, it caused him to jump; hitting his head on a pipe above-

 

It didn’t break… but the metal vibrated from the hit, and the noise didn’t feel too good in his aching head.

 

-Brainz cursed himself while he rubbed the top of his head. He looked to the glow, expecting something horrible and untimely…

 

“Oh..”

 

It was just a text screen of sorts, when he shined his flashlight on it: he could see the keyboard sticking out from under it.

“Another computer… OK…”

 

He wasn’t too thrilled to see it, but at least it didn’t explode… or set off an alarm, or… **electrocute** him… yes, _especially_ that last one. Brainz calmed himself as he approached the thing.

“I guess I woke it up when I made noise, some kind of voice thing… oh well: what’s a computer doing here anyway? Hmph… must be the **_“Lava Pipe number 20 control terminal””_ **

 

His kidding aside, that’s probably what it was for… or something related, it didn’t stick out from the old, archaic vibe that this place gave off: it was ancient looking…  the plastic may not have been yellowed as old computers looked like… but he could tell it was another dinosaur from _his_ time. The screen itself now… there was something on it: but he couldn’t make it out, it was completely illegible.

 

“Hm? What kind of font _is_ this?”

 

He squinted and blinked his one eye.

“Wait… oh _yeah,_ forgot about my eye thing: y’know… actually gaining normal sight in it and all…”

 

He closed his normal eye and took a look with the “freak” one, it revealed… the exact same thing, incomprehensible writing, it didn’t even change colors: _nothing_ did.

“That’s weird… ghuh… the light in here is just _miserable:_ it’s screwing with my eyes.”

 

He made a snub gesture at the screen and left it at that.

“It’s corrupted anyway… I don’t think any language uses **“Mailboxes”** as letters… bah.”

 

* * *

 

 

🕈︎📬︎👎︎📬︎ ☝︎✌︎💧︎❄︎☜︎☼︎🖳︎

🏱☜︎☼︎💧︎⚐︎☠︎✌︎☹︎ ☹︎⚐︎☝︎🖳︎ 📁︎🗏︎📂︎🖮︎📂︎✠︎📫︎💣︎❄︎📭︎📄︎

 

☟︎☜︎☹︎☹︎⚐︎ ✂︎💧︎🕆︎💧︎🏱☜︎👍︎❄︎ ⚐︎💣︎☜︎☝︎✌︎✂︎📪︎ ✋︎ 👎︎✋︎👎︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎ ☜︎✠︎🏱☜︎👍︎❄︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 💧︎☜︎☜︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ☟︎☜︎☼︎☜︎📬︎📬︎📬︎

👌︎🕆︎❄︎ ☜︎✠🏱☜︎👍︎❄︎✌︎❄︎✋︎⚐︎☠︎💧︎ 👎︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎ 💧︎☜︎☜︎💣︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☞︎✋︎❄︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎📪︎ 👎︎⚐︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✡︎✍︎

* * *

 

“So… does this actually _go_ anywhere else **besides** the elevator where I came from? Because I’m not going _back…_ that’s not happening, and if so: well, I may have screwed myself over… between suffocating or starving to death in here, or getting myself killed: I’m really rooting on this network of tunnels having more than one fucking entrance.”

 

He walked for some more, trying to pay attention for any footprints on the ground, indicating he was circling, but every path he took was a new one, he was obviously going _somewhere._

“There’s _gotta_ be another way… this would be a _nightmare_ to get around… I can see why the soldiers are having difficulty, but-”

 

Another klaxon from the world outside ran through the narrow space, it sounded three times: and it sounded… _different,_ more _urgent._ The automated voice would explain everything.

_WARNING!! INTRUSION DETECTED IN: CORE, CONTROL ROOM. ALPHA: UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL. ROYAL GUARD. TO. CONTROL ROOM. ALPHA._

 

Brainz immediately began looking for signs or tripwires.

“Oh god, oh god: _this_ is a control room?? This isn’t even a room! Oh my god, I’m gonna die: these fucking morons made _this_ into a control room? I don’t know! Why would this abandoned looking place be a-”

 

The climax of his assumed panic was put on hold, as another set of bells and alarms came up: inciting their own panic… there was something wrong with them, the automated tones shifted octaves, like they couldn’t decide.

But then the voice came on… something was definitely wrong: the monotonous and robotic voice inherited speech imperfections that shouldn’t be possible for computers. It stuttered and repeated itself like a broken data disk.

 _ATT-TTT-TENT-TION, TH-THIS AN-NOUC_ **_MENT SYSTEM, NOW, UNDER, MILITARY, COMMAND._ **

 

It changed halfway through, as if the original cadence had been replaced by a much deeper and more _menacing_ sounding narrator.

 

Brainz realized he could stop being terrified, and went decisively critical

“What kind of PA system has an option for a **scary voice??** What possible good could that do?? And how did the fucking _military_ figure how to do that? Do these guys _know_ how to interface with **monster** technology?! Jesus christ!”

 

Brainz tried to comprehend it but it only confused him

“I wonder what _else_ they know that I don’t! Maybe Burgerpants was onto something, that I was some kind of _excuse…”_

 

But he heard himself, and especially how loud he was becoming, and Brainz shut the thought down before it could cause him any undue grief.

 

He sighed dejectedly once more.

“Great… I wonder if they have access to cameras now: Hmph.. I guess i’d find out if the voice starts yelling about _me…_ **_I gotta get the fuck out of here…”_ **

 

Brainz increased his pace, putting less caution on tripping or hitting his head: the walls were starting to feel like they were closing on him, and all the pipes and conduits: they were starting to cast ominous shadows from his light.

“Does this ever _end?_ This is like Freddy Kruger’s boiler room… I’m already scared of basements, I don’t _need_ this!”

 

Three klaxons again, this time… they sounded like they were coming from under the floor, the message came out: in the new harsh voice.

 

**_ATTENTION: ALL. MILITARY. PERSONEL. ELEVATORS. ONLINE. WATCH. FOR. SUS-_ **

 

A blast of static, and the voice reverted back: changing the topic.

_WARNING!! CORE. MAINTENANCE. SYSTEMS. CRITICAL. ERROR. PRIMARY. COOLING. OFFLINE! DR. ALPHYS. PLEASE-_

 

An even louder rush of white noise overtook the voice, and the newly established one came back.

**_ALL. MILITARY. PERSONEL. WATCH. FOR. OMEGA. AT. ELEVATORS.”_ **

 

There were plenty of reasons he didn’t like the sound of that.

“So the core wants the elusive Dr Alphys… and the Military wants _me…_ that can only go well…”

 

Another apt remark.

“I- _really_ need to not be stuck inside the walls, I really need to get outta here, actually… I _really_ need to just not be here... - what’s this?”

 

His path had a small blockade, a web of crusty looking caution tape covering the way as well as a sign decorated onto the middle… the letters faded away, leaving the message up to his imagination… Brainz peeked through the tape barrier to see the path ahead was completely uncluttered, save for some wires clipped to the wall: but they weren’t bothering anybody.

 

Brainz sighed and looked back, he’d been walking for a good three minutes or so since the last junction, he wasn’t up for going back... he had a thought that if he wandered for more than ten minutes after this, he would detonate another explosive in high hopes it  _makes_ an exit and doesn't make a fireball that travels through the tunnels and cooks him... it was on the backburner, that plan.

“I wonder why they wouldn't want you to keep going down this way, _not because it’s unsafe…_ nooooo, now _why_ would they care about _that?”_

 

The tape was easily defeated and Brainz walked right in,

“With any luck, this is just unfinished and I’m gonna fall off the face of the earth or something… OR, maybe I’ll see sunlight coming through the cracks.”

 

Brainz was actually eager for that second option, but didn’t have high hopes, he proceeded casually: not even caring for caution, the only thing he did was roll his neck: hunching over for so long was giving him such a crick in the neck, he could actually hear it _creaking_ as he did.

 

Actually… no, it wasn’t his neck, because he still felt it after he corrected it: it sounded like stressing metal, and it wasn’t from outside the little shaft this time. He squinted and tried to find the culprit: it obviously wasn’t from _him._

“ _What_ is that _noise??_ It sounds like the floor’s about to- **_OH MY GOD I’M GONNA DIE!!!”_ **

 

The floor was way ahead of him, it gave way before he could finish his sentence, leading Brainz to crash through the ceiling and onto a harder feeling floor below.

 

_***KA-LUMP!!!*** _

 

The first sign of life from him was a sharp inhale through his nose… it came out as a pained groan, every one of his additional gasps would sound like this. Brainz had landed flat on the floor with his arm as a buffer. The fact the sound it made when he landed resonated, and the sound _he_ was making resonated… it had to have hurt.

 

On his 7th pain sound, Brainz rolled off of his arm and onto his back-

 

Pending he took the duffel bag off of him for a moment.

 

-and looked up to the incomplete ceiling, a handful of ornate ceiling tiles were now scattered onto the floor, allowing anybody to see the hidden space above. He muttered through his soreness, trying to scrounge up any feeling besides “miserable”.

“Well...  (Aauooww..) at least I got out…  (ahhh…) guess we know why you aren’t supposed to go there… (MMmmoohh that hurts… aaahh… that’s gonna bug me for a while) Alright then…”

 

Another sore grunt and Brainz got up to his feet, he cracked and corrected his joints, finished by arching his back and feeling it decompress with each and every crackle, he strained on the last, stubborn part of his spine and when it finally gave in and cracked, it was a rush of relief. He voiced it generously, and happily.

“ _Aaaaaahhh….. A haa-haa…. Much_ better.”

 

He reoriented himself with his things and looked around, he had the luxury to do so, so at least there were no soldiers around, it was a start. As for his surroundings, they looked familiar: but not in the “I was just here” way.

“This looks like the… _80’s_ sci fi place, not the _Alien Ship_ place… _oh no_ -

 

He whined

“-don’t tell me I went _back…”_

 

The pipes lining the floor, glowing gears off in the distance and: one of those gigantic Gallaga screens… except-

“Whoa… _that_ isn’t the same.”

 

-it was broken, both the console and the large board, riddled with **bullet holes.** Brainz was ultimately passive on this, but mostly anxious.

“(Uullgh) Why would they break this? I guess they were more tired of this place than _me…_ or they just have bullets to spare- I know  _I'd_ save a **_lot_ ** of trouble if I had **_guns_ ** to spare-”

 

He looked at his still questionably functional revolver.

“-( _thc )_ Well… Oh, hey-”

 

Something caught his attention, just over the side of the floor was something the similar Hotland Room _didn’t_ have. Some kind of _pillar_ or _tower…_ with a flashing red beacon on top. In addition to it, the exit for this inoperative puzzle room was to the right of the screen, not directly behind it. He could remember this, because instead of a cowering girl made of fire hiding in a corner, that spot was now the exit.

“Wonder what happened to her… (I mean, I hope she’s _alright…_ but) _anywho…_ let’s get out of here.”

 

A couple of steps.

“Oh yeah, this definitely is new."

His path opened into two choices: **Left** or **Right,** and instead of a black void with a waiting pit of magma filling the rest of the world: it was a sea of blinding light that shifted and moved like water… there were more of those tower things… almost looking like _buoys_ in this sea.

 

He really never could lie to himself, Brainz was pretty astonished.

“Chhr-ist… hey what’s this?”

 

A screen randomly affixed to the wall, it’d been quite some time since the last plague he read…

“(Hmmpf)  I guess they had to update it to match with the “ambience” cuz it’s _all_ about presentation… can I read it?”

 

His normal eyesight said _no,_ but his one eye said _yes._ The text changed from gray illegible trash to something more decipherable in his familiar tone of RED.

 **(Solve this puzzle and the end will open…)** **  
**

Brainz looked at the sparking, shattered screen in the room before him.

“Ummm… _somehow_ I don’t see that happening… what, is _that_ why people are getting lost in here? The place is pissy because they broke the stupid puzzle? I mean-”

 

A look to the sea of light and other futuristic looking crap.

“-I really don’t know… and speaking of soldiers…”

 

 _**Speaking** _ of soldiers… Brainz heard something faintly from the rightmost path, the echoing sound of combat boots hurrying along a metal corridor, while gear shifted and shuffled.

 

He did not move, he only froze like a deer in headlights, except there was an absence of headlights… but then he heard voices.

“- lets _go!_ It came from this way! _Cmon!!”_

 

He had one thing in mind, Brainz turned to the handful of ceiling tiles on the ground, he did make an awful lot of noise when he fell, so that would explain why somebody would hear it and why there would be a group of soldiers advancing on his position and-

 

“(What’re you _doing_ still analyzing it, STUPID??? _RUN!_ Run goddammit RUN!”)

Brainz spluttered and twitched all over as he spun and got himself ready to go, confused and frantic.

“(Uhh-habaa;-abla-ahh)- _yeah!_ I’m gonna _go!”_

 

He bailed, taking the only path he could in a full sprint, he was afraid his own footsteps would attract more noise, but there was nothing he could do, he barreled through the halls, silently begging that he wouldn’t run into anyone: mixed with a fair amount of panicked swears under his breath.

 

He made a right, and another one at at a screen he couldn’t stop to read, then he swung a left, then _another_ left: but then he decided to go straight… straight into a dead end.

 

“ _Nyagh!_ God-dammit!!!”

 

He looked for options as the sound of stomping and squeaking boots sounded off in closer cadance to the echoes they made. He was in a small room where the only furnishing was a waste bin that had been toppled over, spilling various bits of rubbish on the floor… also there was a pile of dust resting beside a wall riddled with bullet holes.

 

"( _Great!_ That makes me feel better!)"

 

The only useful bit of this room was how it was wider than the hallway that poured into it, Brainz pressed himself into the wall right beside the entrance, out of sight until somebody investigated the room and turned to their left.

 

His instantly generated plan?

  * Wait and hope they only send one man to check out the room. (Unlikely)
  * Shoot him in the throat as soon as he comes in. (If the gun wants to work)
  * Take his weapon and somehow survive and win the ensuing firefight. (Like the movies)



 

“Yeah, I’m dead…”

 

The footsteps grew closer, they were now a handful of yards away: right at the intersection where Brainz made his mistake of going forward. He took a deep-

And he assumed it was his last.

-breath and carefully cocked the hammer on his gun, again losing confidence in it for how hard it was to do so.

 

He waited, the ringing in his ears began to overtake the outside world, only letting his drumming pulse come in as well. He held on for longer and longer, and suddenly…

 

 _Another_ klaxon, so loud that it made his ears ring for an entirely different reason.

**_ALERT. ALL. MILITARY. PERSONEL. OMEGA. SPOTTED. IN. SUBSECTION. THREE. ALL. PERSONEL. INTERCEPT. SUBSECTION THREE._ **

 

His thoughts screamed only in his head.

(“But what is subsection **_three?!_** Is it _HERE?!_ Or this entire _floor_ “Subsection Three?!” I don’t fucking know?! All I know is, **_I’M GONNA DIE!!!”_** )

 

He involuntarily sucked in air and almost made a squeaking sound. Then he heard a voice again.

“ _Shit!_ We left the elevator hall open! _Double back!!_ NOW!!!”

 

And the footsteps began again, running _away_ from him… he even heard another voice as it faded away.

“-wait, which way did we come from?!-”

 

He waited… with only the sounds of the core as his company, Brainz waited and held his position for far longer than he needed to… it was only after counting to ten at least _five_ times, that he peeked into the hallway, ever so slowly and ever so ready to jump out firing.

 

But there was nobody there…

 

Brainz wanted to slump down the wall, with a hand on his chest to keep his heart from exploding.

("Jesus christ… I can’t take this shit anymore")

 

What he really wanted to do was curl up on the ground and pass out, but when did he ever get to do what he wanted?

 

That announcement system though… it couldn’t have been anything but **irony** , there _had_ to be cameras or something… either they had the worst latency in the world… or the system itself did. Whichever the reason, it potentially saved his life.

“The world confounds me so…”

 

He obviously wasn’t in **“Subsection Three”** whatever _that_ was… and he’d only know what it looks like if he faced with at least twenty soldiers and died horribly. So he was left with the question of the week, _where was he supposed to go?_ He’d have to make a run for it and seriously hope the reorganization of troops would leave a spot open for him. It wasn’t a good chance, and it wasn’t a good plan… but it was all he had.

 

“And.. _once again,_ from the very tippy top…. It’s not like… you have… a fucking… exit sign…”

 

He took a very long breath and prepared himself to make his move, he was about to step out… and then there were the footsteps again.

 

He ducked back right away, but noticed right away the anomalies with the set of footsteps. They had a lot less volume to them, less _weight._ And their pace was far quicker than the soldiers’ and he couldn’t even hear the sound of gear rustling in knapsacks or weapons clanking in their holsters.

Brainz squinted at it so much that he had to stop in order to see, the confusion was enough to undermine his perseverance: and he peeked his head out to see what the hell he was hearing.

(The _fuck?)_

 

He only caught a distant glimpse before the figure disappeared along a turn. It was something short, about half of his height: and all he could see was that it was wearing a striped sweater… that was it.

 

Who did he know, wore a striped sweater? Besides _himself…_

“... No… It can’t be… it…-”

 

A tremble came over him, his fear became something more _bewildered_ and _aghast._

 

(Are there fucking **_KIDS_ ** in here?! **_Why?!_ ** Why are there-)

 

Something overtook him, he shook himself and snapped into a completely different mindset, he stopped shouting at himself in his thoughts and told himself in the real world to focus.

“ **No,** they don’t deserve this…”

 

He clenched himself and gripped his gun tightly, one more thing to say-

“I _really_ hate myself sometimes… _this…_ is one of those.”

 

-and he ran after what he saw without any additional hesitation, Brainz only glanced down his unused path, a reflex, but he kept going. He bolted down the hallway and took the same left: it lead to an entirely new hallway, something that broke the monotony. A metal bridge crossing a sea of white, lined with those pillars/buoys.

 

He put a tight control over his breathing to keep from exhausting longer, his thinking voice was hushed and quick as if he was still talking to himself, it helped him focus.

“(Where are you… where’d you get to? Going in such a hurry, where're you off to, kid?)”

 

He had one solace to go on, and that was that he didn’t hear any gunfire coming from ahead, so either the path was clear… or he was delusional. He doubted himself from the get-go, but a child’s life could’ve been in _danger…_ they always meant more than him. They could still bring to the world where he only took. Under any other circumstances he would refuse the risk, but this: was no contest. He kept running and didn’t stop.

 

“(Oh shit, that’s an elevator! But where is everyone?? Whatever, I’ll take the deserted-ness anyday)”

 

There was a rather dramatic looking doorway just beside the inactive lift. Lined with neon and flashy lights in the shape of **antlers? Wings?** no idea, Brainz went through it without even questioning it, the only thing he questioned was.

“(How far did they _go??_ They didn’t take the _lift,_ did they??? No!... they couldn’t have!... I.. i don’t know… just- where am I going _myself???_ )”

 

A dark room, the lighting was fine: Brainz could see in front of himself without any issue: but the room itself was done in some kind of light “eating” material. He had no time to analyze it, all he knew was that it was _empty,_ and had another doorway just up ahead: and he was already gone, still running.

 

A right turn, and then the longest hallway in this place: the most barren one, too… some of the plating on the wall appeared to have corroded away, revealing some kind of secondary layer beneath. The floor was done in generic looking tiles rather than etched steel.

 

By now, Brainz was audibly huffing, he could feel the droplets of sweat coming from his armpits and running down his shirt, and his throat felt like a blackboard. He wanted to call out for them, but he couldn’t risk being heard, and now it was going to hurt if he did even before the shots would ring out.

 

The hallway ended with another lift, Brainz finally skidded to a stop before the doors, bending over and resting on his knees for a moment. His breaths were now rasping grunts that vibrated  the back of his windpipe.

 

No soldiers here, but no kid either…

“ _Where…_ the _hell…_ did they _go??..._ I don’t even…”

 

He stopped trying to talk and catch his breath at the same time and took some time to breathe and _then_ move onto the mystery.

“They _had_ to go this way-”

 

Brainz-

Not thinking about the repercussions.

-went to press the call button, but the doors opened up for him as soon as he approached the lift: there was an empty cab just waiting for him.

“-or if they used the _other_ lift… where did they go??”

 

He really didn’t want to step back into an elevator, but there was a group of humans running around and yelling about elevators and him: he decided he was less willing to stick around and wait for them to find their way to him.

 

“ _Wait_ a minute!”

 

Brainz fumbled for the map, rescuing it from his skin-tight pocket and unfolding it, he traced it with his finger and when a spot on the map matched with where he was standing, he prodded at it, slapping the paper.

“ _There_ I am!”

 

He laughed in disbelief.

“I’m at the end! (Ha-HAH!) I don’t believe it! I-”

 

And he traced it a couple more times just to be sure, and he _was_ sure.

“-The fucking capitol is on the top floor of _this._ Lets fucking _go!”_

 

He stepped right into the car and the respected button was pressed, it lit up and gave a cheery ***Ding!*** he laughed and rubbed his hands together as the doors closed and the lift moved.

 

“Aahhh haa… where was I now? Oh! Yeah… the fucking kid… what the hell are they _doing_ here? I don’t think it’s the same as... -”

 

He shook his head.

“-uhn-uhhh… they wouldn’t… I **_hope…”_ **

 

The car was suddenly flooded with warning klaxons, Brainz felt his hands reflexively cupping his ears, the car began to shake and the overhead lights flickered.

“ **_OOooohhhH!_ ** WHAT _NOW?!_ I didn’t even press the STOP button this time!”

 

**_WARNING! CORE. TEMPERATURE. ABOVE. NOMINAL LEVELS. POWER. FLUCTUATIONS. ADVISED._ **

 

“Let me _guess…”_

 

The entire car stopped, and the lights went out.

“Of _fucking_ course…”

 

The worst part of this familiar dilemma was what _did_ still work in the elevator.

“And of course the shitty _music_ is still playing… I _hate_ this song… guess I shouldn’t be surprised these guys found the CD for this out of the _trash…_ ”

 

Brainz sighed dejectedly.

“Welp, guess I’ll have to go through “Creepy Tunnel Land” again… I just have to…”

 

He dropped in tone.

“ _Have to_ **_realize…_ ** that I left my crowbar in the last elevator like a **dumbass!!”**

 

He sighed, even _more_ dejectedly and decided to use this as a breather: he’d reached his capacity for bullshit.

“Well… guess I’ll just wait to die… or something.”

 

Brainz blindly found a wall and leaned against it, crossing his arms and sneering. 

 

“I hope that kids ok though…

 

…

 

Ugh, I don’t even like the _original_ version of this song, I better not _die_ to it: that would be the ultimate middle finger to me…

 

…..

 

…

 

Y’know I don’t say it enough... but this **_sucks…”_ **

  
  
  
  
**40:02:54**  
  
**40:02:53**

**40:02:52**

**...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The image used in this chapter is an edited version of: https://www.instagweb.com/media/BfoTsf0B4vw  
> by  
> https://www.instagweb.com/user/dripmode
> 
> Edited by Mz_Mere.


	8. .Infliction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are you really going to take it like that?  
> Don't act like you're surprised: this is exactly how it's supposed to go.
> 
> There's no need to take it out on others,  
> they may have better reasons than you to be unhappy.
> 
> Ｉ ｔｈｉｎｋ ｔｈｅｙ ＡＬＬ ｄｏ

_“-they’ll have you suicidal, suicidal, when you say it’s over…”_

In the darkness of the dormant lift, Brainz joined the phoned in music, murmuring the lyrics to it. He’d convince himself later that he was doing this out of boredom and irony: nothing else.

 

“ **_-_ ** _you’re way too beautiful girl, that’s why it’ll never work, you’ll have me suicidal, suicidal…”_

Brainz had sat down on the floor, his flashlight tucked between his legs as he bided his time, watching the light dance along the glass panes as they reflected it to give the car a subtle glow. He played with his rusty gun too, cocking and slowly defusing the hammer, while trying to get the cylinder to spin, impeded by its poor condition.

 

Suddenly, the music cut off before Brainz could begin the next verse, causing him to look up and emerge from the minor trance.

“Hm?”

 

Without the “terrible & trendy” music he was so quick to bash, the room felt a lot more claustrophobic, it left Brainz alone and susceptible to his thoughts which was never a good thing. But it wouldn’t bother him for long, as the sound of alarms rang through the box again, he almost forgot to cover his ears, begrudgingly.

 

**_ALERT: ELEVATOR. FAILURE. DETECTED. IN. CORE. END. POWER. REROUTING._ **

 

Before he could fully react and get up and off the floor: he almost fell back down when the car suddenly jerked, he still managed to keep his balance but had to employ the use of the handrail: especially when the lights came back as well: blinding him without warning. Brainz winced and covered them, rubbing his sore eyelids.

“Damn… how long was I sitting in the dark?”

 

He was there long enough to hear the song loop a couple of times, he only joined in with the lyrics on this run of it. But he knew it wasn’t too important, rather than how the car was moving again… albeit sounding like it was struggling to do so, the music did not come back on.

“What, did it not have enough to play the crappy music _and_ work? (*Tch tch tch*) and here I thought everything wasn’t for _show-_ ”

 

**_WARNING!: CORE. TEMPERATURE. RISING. CAPACITY. AT. FIFTY. FIVE. PERCENT. DR-_ **

 

There was bout of static to further assault his ears, but it was interrupted when the lift stopped for a final time, before Brainz assumed anything: the doors opened with a cheery jingle. Brainz was more than eager to exit.

“ _Finally!_ I’m never stepping in another elevator in my life…”

 

He immediately stepped out and took a deep breath of the new air, not a hint of ozone: and it felt considerably cooler. He gave the old sensation just one more shudder and went to move on.

“Thank god I’m out of there…”

 

Back to the present, he almost jumped when he came to back to reality: the invasion of this place, and their reliance on these cursed vertical vehicles. He looked around with his gun always first: but there was nobody here. Just soulless walls of brick… like **_actually_ ** soulless for once.

Gray bricks on a gray concrete path, with a gray ceiling. Brainz was more taken back by this than he really should’ve been. It wasn’t _that_ out of the ordinary to _him,_ but to this place it was pretty unsettling.

“Why is everything so fucking **_gray?_ ** Have I gone colorblind or something?”

 

It was like this place wanted to be _“normal”_ for once, but they tried a little too hard and went _“too normal”_ resulting in this place which was supposed to be the **“Capitol”** looking like a bland brick basement in a dated film.

 

Brainz had his map handy and proceeded again, slowly as he needed to watch for anybody else, _especially_ the kid. He finished a turn that would lead him to a massive and open hallway. Another elevator just before this served to mock him, he kept his eyes on it the whole time and backed away from it. When he was far enough to turn his back, his arms fell limp at his sides, and Brainz slouched with his head looking just slightly up… staring at a world beyond him.

“ _Whoooooaaaaaaaaa…. Hoool-leee…. Shhhh-it!”_

 

He was standing before a massive congregation of buildings, _actual_ **buildings…** established multiple floors, and paths. What looked like _housing blocks_ even. Domed roofs that just _looked_ like they were government. This made him feel infinitely _smaller,_ it made every bit of progress he had to fight for- it _dwarfed_ it. He couldn’t even feel overwhelmed, because he wasn’t done being frozen with astonishment.

“This… this must go on for _MILES… Hh-ow…_ how… just how **big,** IS this place? This… this has to reach at _least_ out of the state! I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d find this in Pen-”

 

He stopped gawking at the city itself, and more at something that caught his eye within it: in one of the darkened windows, there was a flash of light, like a camera, or a mirror catching a drop of sunlight and shooting it at him… there was another one… in fact: there were _multiple_ buildings that did this, they were **_strobing_ ** with these flickers of light. He couldn’t have been in a greater lack of words… until the sounds reached him. They had a latency to them, a short and punctual **_*POP*_ ** that echoed and reached for seconds after.

“Oh my god…”

 

[Every time a gunshot rings... a Monster turns to dust....](https://youtu.be/SHboiwotgEI)

  


It was gunfire… for every burst of light he saw, another monster was blown to dust, done away in a flurry of lead.

“ _Oh my god…”_

 

His stomach felt like it jumped and collided with his heart, he felt himself retching the words out: Brainz started a rhythm of gags, muffling them with his fist. He tried to look away from the realization, back to the path in front of him… only to find something other than gray bricks.

 

The path was absolutely soiled with dust, piles reaching the  **_dozens,_ ** dissociating and spreading to every inch of the ground, only broken up by the patterns of countless boots that once paced the area, littered with brass casings that glimmered in the light, Suddenly, the distance gunshots became louder, Brainz could _feel_ the popping in his ears, the vibrations from the explosions.

 

Then the screaming, a chorus of dozens of cries of terror, each cut short by drum of machine gun fire. With each instance of ejected brass hitting the ground and sounding off like bells: punctuating each loss of life. No matter how many screams were stopped, ten more would start: it would never stop, melding together to sound like sirens in the distance. Louder and louder, closer and closer… they wouldn’t stop: they would be right behind him at _any_ second. He could never outrun them. They were all confused, _scared,_ and _all_ of them… were under his name.

 

Brainz faltered to the edge of the path and collapsed to his knees, he then lurched forward and felt flames rushing through his throat and grazing his teeth. He vomited a total of three times, an involuntary gasp preceded each heave as he expelled the searing red liquid. Hearing it “slap” the ground below before the sound of splattering liquid echoed back to him. He could still hear the gunshots fading off in the distance,

 

He wheezed, the metallic taste stuck to every corner of his mouth, reddened saliva trickled from his lips.

 

This wasn’t supposed to happen, he already knew everybody was “fucked” he just never thought of it for too long, but actually catching a glimpse of it… his very own personal holocaust, it was too much. Truly it was, the most horrible thing he’d ever done, and he saw no reason it would stop here, knowing that it was going to get worse… it was the more horrible thing he could think of, but for once? It wasn’t funny at all… at least not _him,_ **_she_ ** found it more amusing though.

* * *

 

[The first monster you killed...](https://youtu.be/pHNNT4EOep8)

 

He heard the giggling from behind, marred by her own kind of rasping as air escaped from the many holes in her.

 

Brainz turned away from the edge, looking utterly numb to the trauma: it was nothing but scar tissue, no feeling: no remorse. Just this dissociated, unfeeling look. And there she was, standing right behind him.

 

Toriel and her wounds were as festering as ever, but as always: Brainz always found himself staring at her mouth, only hanging on by bone and little strings of meat. She never took her empty eyes off of him, and never stopped snarling at him.

 

“Ｉ ｗｉｓｈ ｙｏｕ ｇｏｔ ｔｈｉｓ ｕｐｓｅｔ ｗｈｅｎ ｙｏｕ ｋｉｌｌｅｄ *ｍｅ*, Ｉ ｇｕｅｓｓ ｔｈａｔ ｇｏｅｓ ｔｏ ｓｈｏｗ ｈｏｗ _ｌｉｔｔｌｅ_ Ｉ ｍｅａｎｔ ｔｏ ｙｏｕ."

 

Something happened, a switch flipped inside of him: as if his own tolerance to the horrors of the world had been stripped away by his realization: hearing her voice again… it filled him with rage. He began to breathe laboriously and he got up, refusing to run away from her.

“I told you to **_leave!!!_ ** But you didn’t listen to me!! I didn’t do _anything_ to you!!-”

 

Brainz swung his arm.

“- _nothing!”_

 

His balance faltered a bit, as his insides were still spinning, but he held his stance, this was where he was going to make his stand, it was bad enough he had enemies of every variety, but the dead themselves… He knew Toriel was dead, and nothing he could do could change it. It didn’t matter if this wasn’t real, if this was just a construct of his sick mind, or if she really had come to haunt him, she was wrong.

 

“It was _your_ fault you stayed and died, **_Toriel!!_ ** Don’t act like YOU didn’t do this to yourself!”

 

Suddenly, the apparition shifted towards him, it made him twitch: an aborted fight or flight reaction.

“ _Ｙｏｕ'ｒｅ_ ｔｈｅ ｏｎｅ ｗｈｏ **ＢＲＯＵＧＨＴ ＴＨＥＭ** **_ＨＥＲＥ!!!_ ** _Ｈｏｗ_ ｃａｎ ｉｔ ｂｅ **_ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ_ ** ｂｕｔ ＹＯＵＲ ｆａｕｌｔ?!”

 

Despite the amount of mass she had lost and the damage she suffered, she was able to scream at him with ferocity he’d never imagine she could muster, despite her sockets being empty: he could feel her gaze, willful and angry. But he didn’t let it take control, Brainz shook his head with outright deliberation. He didn’t yell, but he went full assertive in the face of her attempted intimidation.

 

“I **_told_ ** you they were coming, I gave you _every_ warning about them- I _tried_ to make to go with me! _I_ would’ve been safer too!, instead of wandering into this _fuckhole_ on my own, and _you_ would’ve been better off as well! But you _didn’t… -_ **stop** trying to blame me!”

 

She stepped closer to him, easily defeating his height, she was close enough that he could smell the must on her. Toriel had lowered her voice to a sinister rasp and she pointed one of her bareboned claws at him.

“Ｙｏｕ ｄｉｄｎ'ｔ ｔｒｙ ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ!

Ｙｏｕ ｗｅｒｅ ｉｎ ｓｕｃｈ ａ ｈｕｒｒｙ ｔｏ ｌｅａｖｅ ｍｅ, ｙｏｕ ｗｅｒｅ ａｌｒｅａｄｙ ｏｕｔ ｔｈｅ ｄｏｏｒ ｂｅｆｏｒｅ ｙｏｕ ｔｏｌｄ ｍｅ ｙｏｕｒ ｎａｍｅ!

Ａｄｍｉｔ ｉｔ, Ｉ ｗａｓ ｎｏｔｈｉｎｇ ｂｕｔ ａ ＬＩＡＢＩＬＩＴＹ ｔｏ ｙｏｕ!”

 

Brainz surged with outrage, his throat still burned: which made yelling a bad idea, but it was almost autonomous at this point.

“ **_What?!_ ** The reason I wanted to _leave_ so bad was so that they wouldn’t _look_ for me down here!! You failed to mention that this place was _fuck-off_ sized, **_AND_ ** that I would have to go through _everyone,_ **_AND_ ** there was only **_ONE_ ** other way out! So let’s look at _you!_ What have _you_ done for me, except put me in a world of _shit!”_

 

“Ｉ ｄｉｄｎ'ｔ _ＨＡＶＥ_ ＴＯ ＨＥＬＰ ＹＯＵ!!”

 

“I DIDN’T _WANT_ TO BE **HELPED!”**

 

They were screaming at each other, Brainz was twitching, quivering with anger and frustration, while Toriel stood perfectly still: not even breathing. She just watched him struggle to breathe, then went quiet.

“Ｎｏ... ｙｏｕ ｊｕｓｔ ｗａｎｔｅｄ ｔｏ ｈｅｌｐ ｙｏｕｒｓｅｌｆ.”

 

He roared, showing a regression in his willpower against her: leaving him with defensive comebacks: ironically submissive to what she was saying despite what he replied with.

“That’s **_bullshit!!”_ **

 

She didn’t pause or digress for him and kept going, never taking her vacant gaze off of him.

“Ｙｏｕ ｗｅｒｅ ｊｕｓｔ ｇｌａｄ ｙｏｕ ｈａｄ ｓｏｍｅｂｏｄｙ ｅｌｓｅ ｔｏ ｔａｋｅ ｔｈｅ ｆａｌｌ...”

 

His fists shook and he tilted his head to one side, his joints clicked. He shouted louder, trying to keep the thoughts from getting in.

“That’s _not_ **_TRUE!!”_ **

 

“Ｏｎｃｅ ｔｈｅ ｍｉｌｉｔａｒｙ ｇｏｔ ａ ｌｏｏｋ ａｔ ｍｅ?

Ｔｈｅｙ ｗｅｒｅ ｇｏｎｎａ ｂｅ _ｔｏｏ_ ｂｕｓｙ ｄｅａｌｉｎｇ ｗｉｔｈ ａｌｌ ｔｈｅ ***ｓｃａｒｙ*** ｍｏｎｓｔｅｒｓ ｉｎ ｔｈｉｓ ｐｉｔ ｔｏ ｅｖｅｎ ｗｏｒｒｙ ａｂｏｕｔ **_*ｙｏｕ*”_ **

 

“ **_NO!”_ **

It was the most aggressive denial he’d made. But then it was followed by more instances of the word… but now, he didn’t sound so sure.

“ _N-nhnn… Nooo!_ That’s not… **No!** That’s not _it!”_

 

Sweat beaded from his oily hair, his corroded teeth chattered uncontrollably. He already lost control of his perception, now he was losing control of himself.

 

“Ｙｏｕ'ｒｅ ｇｏｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｌｅａｖｅ ｔｈｅｍ ｔｏ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ...

ｔｈｉｓ ｉｓ ｇｏｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｂｅ ｙｏｕｒ

 **_*ｇｒｅａｔｅｓｔ ｅｓｃａｐｅ, ｅｖｅｒ*_ ** ａｄｍｉｔ ｉｔ... ｙｏｕ ｐｌａｎｎｅｄ ｔｈｉｓ ｆｒｏｍ ｔｈｅ ｓｔａｒｔ....”

 

“NO-NO, NO-NO, **_NO!!!_ ** SHUT UP!!”

 

“Ｔｈｅ ｓｏｌｄｉｅｒｓ ａｒｅｎ'ｔ ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｓｔ ｔｈｉｎｇ ｔｈａｔ'ｓ ｈａｐｐｅｎｅｄ ｔｏ ｕｓ... ＹＯＵ ａｒｅ.”

 

“SHUT _UUUUP!!_ Just **_SHUT UUUUPPP!!-”_ **

 

Brainz battered his head, striking his eye sockets with his palms, eventually resting them on his ears to not hear her voice any longer.

“-just **_shut the FUCK up already!!”_ **

 

His panicked breathing covered out all the noise from outside, he hunched over and hid from _her,_ from the world. He couldn’t stop the voice from echoing inside of his skull, no matter how much he thrashed and shook his head, it wouldn’t go away, like she had branded it into his Brain.

 

At some point, he dared taking a peek forward, to see that amalgamation of tattered cloth and rotting flesh, but when he did: not a single glimpse of red was seen: Toriel was gone.

* * *

 

[We'll all fall down...](https://youtu.be/JuLzVsvXKM8)

 

He only lingered to catch his breath, nothing more. He began to walk again, without so much as glancing to the besieged city before him, or even at the dusty ground. The only way he knew it still existed was by the clinking of bullet casings as he kicked them up, while clouds of dust stuck to his shins. He felt a voice coming from his lips-”

“Don’t listen to her, she’s _wrong-.”_

 

It sounded calm and focused, assuring… it didn’t feel like _him,_ but he still felt himself saying it.

“-you’re _fine…_ it doesn’t matter what she says, she’s dead, you’re not: you’re gonna be OK, just keep walking…”

 

He crossed his arms and hunched over, huddling into himself, he didn’t believe what he was saying, and passively shook his head, knowing it wasn’t really OK, his life could _never_ be OK. But still, his lips moved without his consent.

“-they brought this on themselves…-”

 

He clenched his eyes shut, the self assurance wasn’t working.

“-what about _Flowey?”_

 

That made him stop in his tracks, sharing his sense of being lost with a fitting expression. He murmured, sounding disturbed.

“I don’t even know if he’s _alive…_ he said he would come to me when everyone else was gone…-”

 

He found himself looking behind at the trail of dust and bullets, regretting it immediately but taking it in and turning back.

“-there’s nobody here, especially not him… I don’t know anymore.”

 

His tone and voice shifted, his alter ego was showing, it sounded more confident than him: like it knew something he didn’t, which was why it could be so calm.

“He’s _fine,_ there’s no way he let himself get seen by soldiers: he’s a smart kid, he knows better.”

 

“Does he really? He made the mistake of looking up to _me.”_

 

“Because you’re all he _has…_ doesn’t matter anything what you are to anybody else, to _him_ you’re his hero, his _parent_ almost… you’re going to take care of everything for him.”

 

“Parent”... the thing Toriel looked like she was trying to be for him… too early: of all the things that would cling to his brain like a tumor after this was over… she was going to hang on for the longest time. Getting rid of her wasn’t going to be easy.

 

But that’s all she should’ve been, just a memory to chisel away. Just like everything else down here, it wasn’t going to matter, in lieu of every allegation Brainz made about his fate happening here… he couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow, he _was_ going to leave: and he’d have to live with what happened here for the rest of his life.

 

“Just… keep… on... Soldiering… you’ve got a job to do…”

 

Never did words sound so heavy and sordid, that he felt sick… he forced the feeling back into his pit…

 

It hurt.

 

But he just had to keep moving.

 

For the first time in this subterranean world… Brainz felt his loneliness setting in again. It bothered him,  this was how he always felt on the surface, this was his _normal._ He was _used_ to it, but here: it felt so much heavier.

“Wait… where is everybody?”

 

He convinced himself this was why he was feeling “wrong” this place should’ve been lousy with soldiers patrolling the area… but there was nobody here, just the dead and the lost: it was the path he was most familiar with, the one he always left behind: but this time, he was following it. Following in his own footsteps.

 

“Well… here I _am…_ ”

* * *

 

He stood before a room, completely washed with drab gray, featuring a house without a door, always inviting, even for the likes of him. He dragged his feet as he proceeded as planned. There was something disturbingly familiar about the landscape before him though. There were piles of leaves tucked into neat portions, but the tree that spawned them was nowhere to be found… the leaves themselves though looked like they had died a long time ago. Brainz felt a strange obligation not to disturb them as he came to the structure.

 

Before he walked in though… he knew what he was here for, he wasn’t going to forget that. Brainz produced his revolver and cocked the hammer, he had no intentions of releasing the tension. He took a deep breath that hissed as it pushed into his nose… it quivered as it came out, and he walked inside.

 

“Well this is… humble…”

He walked in here expecting something grand and egotistical. A shrine to Asgore’s sense of self importance, just something lavish… it helped Brainz keep his rage in focus: the one thing that kept him going most of the time. But this wasn’t anything like he imagined. This wasn’t fit for a zealous king, it was more fit for a family. He was almost discouraged to see this, but he forced himself to remember the facts. Asgore was a child murderer, and he needed to be punished.

 

The house itself though… facing the entrance was a staircase, it lead to the basement, according to Brainz’s map, this was the way to the _throne_ room. He swallowed and confirmed his occurrence… under his breath and riddled with doubt.

“Right… _right…_ still has a throne room, and it’s… down there.”

 

Down in the basement.

(God I hate basements…)

 

Ironic that basements bothered him, when he’d been trapped in a “natural” basement for days and hadn’t a single thought outside of irritation.

 

There was an interesting sight though… at the entrance to the stairs was a lone chain bound by padlocks. It wasn’t anything above a foot off the ground, it could easily be stepped over. But even if it was more imposing, Brainz would’ve been able to vault over the railing.

 

For some reason. Even though he knew where to go, Brainz hesitated on it: he felt the need to look around, to debunk something: this strange feeling that he couldn’t put his finger on. There was something about this place that felt off… the gray finish on _everything…_ he couldn’t help but feel it wasn’t there before, that it had been another color at one time… but this was the first time he was here.

 

And those flowers… big petaled plants sitting in a pot just besides the staircase… they were as gray as the rest of the room…

“I could’ve sworn those were _yellow…_ but why? What’s going on…”

 

He found himself taking a left into a different room, he already knew this place had to have been empty: otherwise his presence would have been acted upon already.

 

“This room, this place… I’ve _been_ here before… wait…”

 

A hardwood floored living room / dining room, that housed a large reading chair besides a mantle… the space was dark and dormant, but he remembered the calm sounds of a polite fire crackling subtly.

 

“... _wait…”_

 

He turned around to see down the other path from the foyer, but before he got his glimpse… he knew there were going to be _three_ doors to the left, and that the hallway would end with a mirror… and that’s exactly what he saw. History repeated itself, Brainz was standing in the middle of the floor, his voice losing its integrity as he asked this one rhetorical question… a composure ridden whisper through his twitching face.

“What… the, _ff-fuck??_ ”

 

The familiar feeling became real, Brainz was standing in an instance of the very home he’d started his trail in, an exact copy of Toriel’s home.

“This… this can’t _be…_ it feels so _real…”_

 

He knew he had to have slipped into some delusion at _some_ point… some nightmare or limbo, a memory mixed with stirrings of guilt, this couldn’t be real. Everything was without color, like the very trope of a cinematic flashback.

 

But there wasn’t the disconnection from life that every delusion had, everything still felt real, his pains: beginning to show themselves again as the effects of his morphine dose ebbed… he looked to himself, to see if he was still the same person. His battered hands, crooked and torn: wracked with guilt… a faded and ruined jacket, smeared with dust and spent life… and the sweater, after everything he’d been through: it clung to him, a reminder of the past, a token for culpability. Despite everything, the colors never faltered: bright crimson and jet black stripes.

 

But his final test for lucidity, it worked last time. Only here he was going to have to endure it for the long run. She wasn’t going to help him this time.

 

Brainz held up his right thumb and bit down on it, grimacing as his fang broke through the skin and he tasted blood. He watched as a ruby drop seeped out from inside. He wiped it off on his sleeve and licked the wound.

 

He was still real, but the question wasn’t him: it was _this_ place. It _always_ was this place: there was always something wrong: something dark and sinister hiding beneath, and it was always that he was _just_ shy of seeing the truth… Brainz contemplated on it for a bit, he made up his mind to find out what lay behind the closed doors. Would he expect to find the same room he arose in, days ago, or something else. He didn’t know… but he wanted to find out. On the very door he would have emerged from… a sign was placed: he went forward to read it.

 

“Brainz?”

 

He gasped and spun back to the front room. Just from hearing that unique voice, Brainz already knew the name.

“ **_Flowey!…”_ **

* * *

 

He saw the simple little face, standing in the flowerpot by the stairs, Brainz hobbled over right away, letting his exhaustion show as he slouched and hunched over. The relief, overshadowed everything else.

“- **_ohh thank god!”_ **

 

[You're the only reason I'm here...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OqigCz2S1w)

 

In his grateful show, Brainz had approached the delicate plant and delicately cupped his hands around the petals. He spouted a manner of questions and such mindful things, and the urgency was present in him.

“-are you okay? Did anything happen  to you?? Did anybody _hurt_ you??”

 

Flowey didn’t seem to expect Brainz reacting like this, he almost lost focus from this.

“Y-yea!- I’m ok: thank you- I… I, are _you_ okay?..”

 

Brainz was so quick to dismiss himself, he was able to sound sure of it and shake his head: he even smiled.

“ _Ohh-_ don’t you **_ever_ ** worry about me! I can take care of myself. I am just **_so_ ** glad you’re alright! You _are_ alright, right?”

 

Flowey didn’t have much patience for the redundant question, he wanted Brainz to take his word.

“I’m _fiiine!”_

 

Brainz stepped back to take a better look at the kid. His relief evaporated and he stammered, not believing a word out of him.

“Wh-wha-What happened to your bright yellow petals?”

 

“What do you mean? What’s wrong with them?”

 

Brainz answered, still caught in his quickly procured stupor.

“You’ve completely lost your color- like _here_ too, a-and the _other_ flowers… and like the lava-”

 

The more broadly aware part of him got his attention back. It dropped a quick assumption into his thoughts and got him to move onto more _pressing_ matters. He only muttered the end to his statement… already sounding disinterested as his stance drooped.

“-I-eeeey may have gone colorblind-”

 

He only moved his eyes to make quick glances at the world: gray walls, gray floor, gray ceiling, gray (but kind of beige too) Flowey, and gray ‘ _everything else except for him’._ It didn’t explain why red was doing fine or why he could ‘ _sometimes’_ perceive shades of blue-

 

Maybe it was more ‘Violet’ which had shades of red in there.

 

\- but again, he wasn’t presently concerned _with_ himself or _for_ himself. Granted this _was_ a big concern, but anything regarding Flowey trumped _his_ needs.

“-but _nevermind_ that! For real, **are you** **_okay?!_ ** Did _they_ (The soldiers) get _any_ hint of you?-”

 

At this point Brainz began to ramble, deviating his attention as he spoke more to himself.

“-well then again, you’re still here so I’d imagine they didn’t, but you could’ve just hid, but then I-”

 

“ _Brainz!_ Stop asking me _that!_ I’m **fine** _already!_ What is _up_ with you?? You’re more twitchy than ever!”

 

Brainz took a small offense to that, but it was what caused Flowey’s words to stick for once.

“Well excuse me, but I think I’m allowed to worry about you, considering what’s been going on.”

 

Flowey squinted and dropped his vexation.

“ _What’s_ been going on?”

 

Brainz wanted to retaliate with something snide at first-

(You’re kidding me, right?)

 

-but he wasn’t going to be like this with Flowey, especially if this was true ignorance to the matter, well… he wanted to find out first of all. He softened his attitude and tried to level with Flowey, hushing his voice.

“Have you seen what it’s like out there??-”

 

He pointed out the doorway, and impulsively looked down the way too.

“-(egh)- where have you _been?_ I tried calling you… because if you don’t know, I _really_ need to tell you something _important._ ”

 

Flowey looked lost, and so did Brainz. The only thing on his mind besides telling Flowey about the world ending, was wondering what the hell the kid was doing all this time… he tried one more time with a final euphemism. He even bent close to whisper it into Flowey’s (ear?... petal?).

“Let’s just say I may not be the only human _down_ here anymore… and that this place _may_ have bigger problems than _me.”_

 

 **“Ooooooohh!** Are you talking about how the military is killing all the monsters?-”

 

Brainz made an abrupt stuttering noise, his breath crashing into his sinuses.

“- _Ooooh,_ **_that’s_ ** what you’re talking about? Don’t even worry then, I already know about that.”

[You do?????](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzpTB-QZufc)

 

Brainz was still stalled, a loss for words with a bonus for how Flowey delivered the line as if it was no big deal at all. He found himself staring at the flower, feeling that if his eyelids opened any wider, his eyeballs would roll out of their sockets.

“Y-yeh-ye... -”

 

He held a finger to denote a brief pause and took a needed breath of air, when he started talking again, he was somewhat composed.

“-ye- _do?”_

 

Flowey nodded hastily.

“Mm-hmm! They’ve _been_ doing that, of course I know, I kind of know _everything_ around here… like, did _you_ know those geniuses are turning off all the things that keep the CORE from blowing up?”

 

He still sounded and looked like he was in shock, but his words were nonchalant enough.

“Well I didn’t think those announcements were for nothing…-”

 

The disbelief became worse as the fear of exploding became very _real,_ while his pre learned notions about the military went up in smoke. He felt sweat running down his pits and beading in his hair.

“- buu-uhhhh-t, you… you aren’t concerned by this, at _all?”_

 

“Why would I be? Those guys are doing us a favor, getting rid of all the monsters, and then **_themselves…_ ** and besides-”

 

Flowey perked up and smiled hopefully at Brainz, the only source of positivity in this world, he didn’t know how to take it.

“-we’re almost done!”

 

This could never stop bothering Brainz, not only was Flowey condoning… borderline _congratulating_ his actions… but the fact he couldn’t have sounded any happier for him… without a shred of doubt, it reminded him of himself again and he shuddered. Then he felt his thoughts delving into the bad places, thinking about everyone he doomed.

“But… all these people… they’re all gonna _die…_ and I…I’ve _doomed_ them.”

 

He could hear her voice again, sobbing softly in his ears: he felt a jagged rock forming under his cranium and pressed his head into his hand.

(Unnnghh…)

 

Flowey didn’t address his condition at all, he had something else to say.

“What are you _talking_ about? These aren’t **“people”** they’re just _monsters…_ you said it yourself, don’t you remember??-”

 

He then sounded critical of Brainz, judging him.

“-and for that fact, you remember what they did to **_me,_ ** right? They all deserve this, what you’re doing is _justified_ …”

 

“I thought it was just Asgore who did this to you.”

Brainz came out from his self loathing trance to question Flowey, even before properly remembering if that was the case.

 

“No I didn’t, you asked who turned me into a flower, and I said monsters did this to me… do you _not_ remember???”

 

He couldn’t even tell, that conversation he had in the dumps felt like it was ages ago, somehow he had it that Asgore was responsible for it… as with everything wrong in the world: like it was something to keep the rage up, to keep his resolve true…

 

He _did_ remember saying something devaluing monsters at one point… but that was: many hours, and a bunch of conversations ago, before he donated his lifeline to a pair of girls hiding in a dumpster, before he shared a moment of empathy with the most disgruntled and level headed cat ever… but even before that, he knew he wasn’t telling the truth, he knew _she_ didn’t deserve this. In fact, out of all the brainwashed, _ignorant_ creatures: he could count the ones he felt deserved this on one hand.

 

“I…but…”

 

In the end, he accepted it; he accepted that he was here and that there was nothing he could do about it, he couldn’t torture himself, not when Flowey still depended on him… so for the sake of everything, Brainz would have to lie. He saw how the smile faded from Flowey and yearned to change the subject. He’d think of something that would benefit both of them, give Flowey a chance to feel good about himself and give Brainz some information.

“-aight, hold on: what’s _up_ with this place anyway?”

 

He changed his tone and let off some of the doom and gloom, Brainz gestured to the room they were in and looking around, mimicking the confusion and astonishment he had earlier. It was his gambit to ease some of the tension between him and Flowey.

“Like… why does this look like an exact copy of-”

 

He was interrupted by a flat voice.

“-the abandoned royal home in the RUINS?-”

 

Brainz stopped abruptly, Flowey then grumbled under his breath.

“-Really? It’s not obvious?”

 

“ **_Royal_ ** **_????”_ **

 

Flowey scoffed.

“Well, _duh!_ This is **_king_ ** Asgore’s house… (moron).”

 

Brainz didn’t find himself particularly enjoying Flowey’s tone of voice. Especially and seemingly out of nowhere! Suddenly, it was as if Flowey expected much more of him than he already did, which was a lot to begin with.

“I _knew_ **_THAT…_ ** what I’m asking is, _why_ are there two of the exact same house on opposite sides of this place?”

 

Flowey squinted at him.

“What part of _“The Ruins”_ isn’t clear to you? Plus, Asgore isn’t exactly good with _names…_ I mean you just came from ‘Hotland’ .”

 

He was starting to pick up an implied, condescending tone, he didn’t care for it one bit, especially not from a child, he didn’t even have to remind himself he was doing all this _for_ Flowey, so the kid didn’t have to be brash like this.

“Well _why_ **IS IT** ‘The Ruins’?? You haven’t exactly stuck around long enough to tell me _that…-”_

 

He came back with his own attitude, Brainz didn’t even wait for Flowey’s reaction. He instead found more reasons _he_ should be the one complaining.

“-In fact, you’ve sort of just left me to find everything out by _myself…_ most of the times **quite painfully,** now that I mention it-”

 

He may not have realized that he was giving consent for a full blown argument to come out with his sarcasm coming into play.

“- **_actually_ ** since you _know_ everything so much: why couldn’t you be bothered to give me some directions??-”

 

Then he was exaggerating his voice, quite annoyingly too.

“- _Oh yeeaaah,_ that would’ve been **_great._ ** But instead, I had to settle for _this-”_

 

Brainz reached into his pocket and aggressively brandished his makeshift map, present on the backside of ‘OC Art’

“-so _forgive me_ if I missed the the fact that that was Asgore’s summer home.”

 

Flowey didn’t handle the sarcasm very well.

“I _said_ it’s **_abandoned!!_ ** You moron! You’re not even listening to me! You _never_ listen to me!!”

 

The accusation caused Brainz to snarl.

“If I missed anything from you, _maybe_ it’s because I have to _think_ **constantly** of what I have to do to _NOT DIE._ It’s a hell of a lot more often than you _think!_ And right now, I’m stuck asking myself, ‘ _Why_ would the KING live in a place called ‘THE RUINS????’ .”

 

Flowey made a face Brainz never saw before, it had sunken far passed “Irritated” and into artless anger. His high pitched voice stressed itself to the point of a whine. Brainz would even see the petals contracting and fluttering around the yelling face.

“It wasn’t “ **_THE RUINS_ ** ” when they _lived_ there!!!!”

 

Brainz did his one sin with Flowey, he cherry picked what he was going to hear from the statement and he brought it up with a flare in his temper. He was swinging alright, he just didn’t fully comprehend who he was about to strike.

“ **_THEY???_ ** Who’s ‘ **_THEY??_ ** ’ Did’ja leave out someone _else_ I should know about!? I bet-cha I’m gonna find out before I take it in the **_FACE!”_ **

 

Flowey stood erect in his pot, as tall as he could get: he exploded, doubling on Brainz’s escalation.

“THE **ROYAL FAMILY,** you * **_IDIOT*!!!!!!!!”_ **

 

It was now a screaming match-

 

The second one in Brainz's career

 

-they both fueled each other’s anger, it was self sustaining and it kept getting hotter. In the moment, Brainz forgot everything about his friend and his frustration started a wicked rant, no holds barred.

“The-Fff **_UCK_ ** WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!?! The **_FUCK_ ** was I supposed to know **_anything!?-”_ **

 

He paced and swung around the room, completely oblivious to how loud he was shouting, taking no regards for his sore throat or how he was condoning himself. That revolver in his hand was swinging all over the place, pointing at just about everything in eyesight.

“-because if _I_ recall, all you **_BITCHED_ ** about- was Asgore! **_Asgore! Asgore! Asgore!_ ** Told me a fucking sob story and signed it with _his_ name. And you’re fucking acting like I read the unabridged history of this fucking loser place!-”

 

In his spiraling state, he caught only a glimpse of Flowey, the anger was gone from the simple face: it was something more upset or mortified, but it wasn’t going to stop Brainz, he was finishing this ultimatum of sorts.

“-talking down to me like that. **_Who the FUCK do you think you ARE?!_ ** I thought you were the kid who **_BEGGED_ ** and **_PLEADED_ ** for _my_ help! I don’t seem to remember being _obligated_ to _do_ so!”

 

He reached a stopping point and brought his movements to a halt, standing there and waiting for his senses to come back while panting and huffing. The realization of what he just did was going to come faster than his thoughts, when a now _anguished_ voice squeaked out from a wilting Flower. ****

“F-fine… if you don’t wanna _help_ me anymore… I’ll just-”

 

Brainz’s temper cooled down immediately, his face released all of its tension as his jaw dropped some. He heard a laborious sounding sniffle that quivered, and then Flowey continued.

“-I’ll just ask one of the _soldiers_ to help me… I _knew_ you didn’t want to, I’m just a… **_problem_ ** to you…”

 

It devolved into stifled sniffles and low key sobs, Flowey refused to show his face as he further drooped. He began retreating into the pot to leave-

 

“ **_Wait!”_ **

 

-but Brainz made a frantic retort, he even reached an arm out.

 

When he saw that Flowey had paused, Brainz could start his attempts at damage control. Vague feelings and icy cold experiences began to crawl up his back: the sound of juvenile despair was something familiar… he was forced to stutter, with very little confidence in his voice to combat it. He already regretted losing his temper.

“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t actually _mean_ that- I-”

 

He didn’t even have to finish his makeshift groveling to know it wasn’t going to work, dwelling on the past and trying to take it back _never_ worked… it didn’t work with the last child and it wasn’t going to work here. He would have to accept what happened and focus on working past it… the thought of it terrified him. But he was desperate not to lose this one.

 

So he made a very demoralized sounding sigh and his voice would reset to his natural low and monotonous drone, borderline apathetic.

“Ok ok let's just slow down…we’re going off _badly_ on the wrong foot: I think we both need to take a couple steps back: I don’t know how we got this bad, but just… let’s just calm down for a second and work this out, Ok?

 

Please, just: lets not make this worse, I’m calling a timeout.”

 

Flowey didn’t react or even show a sign that he heard or would even comply with this, Brainz really didn’t want to prod anymore, but the anxiety would make him ask again. He had to dig deep to find that calm and solicitous tone of his.

“Flowey? Did you hear me?”

 

“ _Fine…_ whatever…”

He was dismissive and sullen, but ultimately compliant with what Brainz had asked, so it was already going far better than he could’ve hoped for. He didn’t go too far, and he still had some grasp on this, so it was going to be OK.

 

Brainz sighed again, showing some relief. He nodded too, unsure if Flowey was even looking at him, but was still obligated to show his appreciation.

“Thank you.”

He whispered under his breath.

 

They wouldn’t acknowledge each other for the duration of this moment, Brainz would focus on slowing his breathing as he paced around the room. He would only make glances at the still wilted flower, just to quell his anxieties that Flowey wouldn’t be there the next time he looked up.

 

He couldn’t think of anything though… he was still too dumbfounded from what had just happened, how this hopeful reunion devolved into this. There would be no way to mend it… but a derailment… another distraction. He found that familiar door taking his attention, specifically the decorate looking sign.

 

“Hey… who’s ‘ _Asriel’?”_

 

Brainz turned around to see Flowey perking his head up rather quickly, sporting nothing but question on his face. Flowey sounded instantly intrigued. _Anxiously_ curious.

“What did you say??”

 

Brainz kept his demeanor neutral and willfully nonchalant. He held up a thumb towards the name on the door.

“It’s uh- it says ‘ _Asriel’_ on this… -”

 

Brainz kept his attention to Flowey and gently waved his hand at the aforementioned sign.

“- the sign… I had to ahh…-”

 

Brainz closed his once “normal” eye, signifying his use of his inherited abnormal ability.

“- do this thing to read it, but yeah… who’s _that_?”

 

Flowey stared at him for a moment, but did give an answer: albeit in a meek matter. There wasn’t a lot of integrity in his voice.

“Uhh… he’s the… he was thee..the.. Uh- the prince of the royal _family…_ and uh... -”

 

Flowey suddenly hunched closer to Brainz and squinted, his voice went up another octave and it became more direct and curious. He tilted his head.

“- _how_ were you able to read that, exactly?”

 

Brainz gave the most honest and open shrug he’d ever done. He shook his head until he stopped talking.

“I’m still trying to figure that out myself. Been weirding me out since day _one,_ but can’t say it’s not useful.”

 

Flowey ultimately agreed with that-

“Uhhhhh, _yeeaaaaaah…-”_

 

His mouth had contorted in all sorts of ways  as he stretched out the words.

-but mostly on the part about being 'weirded out'.

“-you said you’re also going colorblind?”

 

Suddenly, that inherently mattered. Brainz nodded, and took another look at all the gray furnishings.

“ _Yeah,_ I’m pretty sure I am, I think it’s a trade off for being able to see out of an eye that went blind when I was kid… and for being able to read-”

 

He gestured to the door.

“- _this_ … although, It looks like there was something else there: but someone scratched it out.”

 

There were claw marks below the legible text, it looked like someone had made an effort to erase something.

 

The two shared another round of nods and “Uh-huh”s, Brainz smacked his lips-

Feeling how dry and sticky his mouth was.

-and tried to reclaim the topic by pointing a final thumb at the sign: repeating his inquiry.

“-anywho…. **_Asriel_** _??_ Also am I saying it right?”

 

For some reason he felt a doubt in how he was pronouncing the name, Brainz had been emphasizing the “I” making more of a **(Az-rai-eel)** sound. Some part of him felt it wasn’t right.

 

Flowey didn’t get upset for once and corrected him.

“ **_Az-Ree-ell_ ** -”

 

Brainz nodded to the correction and murmured.

“Aight.”

 

“- _well…_ so this is… this _was_ where the Royal Family lived, and uh… _before_ that, they used to live in the ruins… where _you_ came from, y’know…. And uhm-”

 

There was an inherent lack of confidence in how he said everything, like the way Brainz had taken him off guard was still lingering. Brainz though, didn’t wish to address it, lest he make the flower anymore uncomfortable and bring up the negativity they just worked past.

 

Flowey jumped to the term itself.

“-the Royal Family! There was, y’know _Asgore,_ obviously… the king… and he had a- a _queen!_ Yeah. She and him used to rule this place, y’know-”

 

Everything Flowey was saying was news to him, Brainz wouldn’t bear to overlook anything: he’d nod whenever a sentence ended and mutter to denote he was listening and understood. He was becoming enthralled.

“Uh-huh?”

 

Flowey did his best to keep talking, he trembled sometimes and he’d stutter too.

“- Asriel… was uhmm… he was their son, and because they were king and queen it meant he was the prince! You know what I’m-”

 

Brainz held up his hand and nodded respectfully, Flowey didn’t have to explain that.

“Mmhm.”

 

“-oh ok, but there was another one too, another-err  uh, _kid…_ so it was Asriel… and someone else, the um… kids.”

 

Brainz only interjected once, just with a gently worded question, not intended to be intrusive or anything.

“You know their name?”

 

Flowey seemed to pause for a moment, not making any real movements or sounds: perhaps locked in thought. But in the end he closed his eyes and shook his head quickly, coming back with a willfully placed-

“ **No**... I don’t.”

 

“Oh, ok… but-”

 

Brainz processed the use of past terms Flowey had gone to, paired with the failure to mention this earlier… he had something else to ask.

“-what happened to them? Everything is ‘ _was’_ and it’s the first time I ever _heard_ of anyone… did something happen to them?”

 

Again, a moment of pause, but this time; Flowey sounded much less willful: like he’d resent what he’d say. He even drooped his head again, and it wasn’t because of Brainz.

“Yes… there _is_ no more Royal Family… it’s just Asgore now… it’s been him for years.”

 

“What happened?”

Brainz was impulsive to ask again, he stepped closer to Flowey, he could almost feel the burden from him, and that’s what made him want to know… not for the sake of Asgore or his family, but just to see where Flowey came into this...  this was personal.

 

Flowey didn’t look up at him, he didn’t want to let Brainz see his face, maybe it would only cause a derailment, but regardless: he began to speak again, and with a low monotonous tone. Devoid of life or joy.

“A long time ago… before I became a **_flower-”_ **

 

He put emphasis on the word, like it was the most repulsive thing in the world. Brainz understood, he held his silence.

“-it was Asgore, the queen… and two children… they used to live right here… they _used_ to live back there-”

 

The Ruins.

 

“-but that was when it was _just_ the king and queen.”

 

Flowey seemed to have left an intentional pause, waiting for Brainz to acknowledge or question anything before he’d continue.

 

Solemnly.

“Ok.”

 

Flowey continued.

“Even though they were stuck down here- _along with everyone else of course-_ even though they were… they were _happy_ , they only needed each other and that was it, **nothing else.** Being here didn’t matter, _one_ bit…”

 

A pause… just when Brainz was going to say something, ask if Flowey was OK or if he needed to stop, Flowey jutted his head straight up and at Brainz. It made him twitch from the unexpected change, but Brainz didn’t make any noise or much movement. Flowey then openly addressed him, his voice jumped to a direct question… it sounded spiteful and his expression became bitter. He spoke in a hushed yet aggressive tone under his breath.

“Do you know the saying about: **you don’t know what you have, until it’s** **_GONE?_ ** Do you?”

[That *IDIOT*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq58tE_hW2s)

 

Brainz answered so quickly, he almost sounded dismissive. He started with a lot of emphasis, it almost sounded like a scoff.

“ **_Course_ ** I do… that’s everything to my name... why?”

 

Flowey shut his eyes for a moment and nodded knowingly. Like he knew Brainz would know, maybe even the response he’d get. But he took a breath, a solemn one… then: something croaked out of him.

“ **Asriel didn’t.....** He didn’t know that… **_one bit.”_ **

 

Brainz felt _something_ sticking up on his neck, he had to scratch it and take a glance out the window, but when he turned back, he was eager to know.

“What did he do?”

 

Flowey began to tremble, his voice dropped further in volume and integrity.

“He did _something…-_ ”

 

There was _something_ Brainz didn’t know, normally he wouldn’t even _want_ to know. But he could see Flowey was getting worked up and trying his damndest to hide it, the fact he was failing made it all the more disconcerting.

“-something so ss _ss_ **_tupid!-”_ **

 

He was whispering now and had near silently whipped his voice.

“-so, _so,_ **_so sstupid!-”_ **

 

He seemed to vent some unseen frustration into every iteration of the word “stupid.” hissing and snapping every time.

“- **_stupid! Stupid! STUPID!-”_ **

 

Brainz was already feeling anxious, it began to melt into impatience: not knowing and seeing it bother Flowey more and more was starting to get to him. So he repeated himself, sounding all the more solicitous and concerned.

“Flowey, **What.  Did. He.** **_Do????”_ **

 

Suddenly, Flowey whipped his head to Brainz and stared him down with a look of anguish: and then the floodgates opened. He became anything but muted.

“He **_LET_ ** this happen!! He didn't **_STOP_ ** them! He _made_ all this **_HAPPEN!”_ **

 

He roared and threw himself all around the pot, as the tension reached its high point again, the yelling pushed Brainz over the edge: he couldn’t the anticipation any longer.

“ _What_ did he **_DO?!!”_ **

 

“They made a **_STUPID_ ** plan, to get to the **_STUPID_ ** surface! And they were going to take people’s **_STUPID_ ** souls! So they could break the **_STUPID_ ** barrier and let all the **_STUPID_ ** monsters out!-”

 

In a sense, Brainz was taken aback, he exclaimed without even hesitating. His hands jittered and locked halfway closed.

“ **_What?!”_ **

It was up there with some of the most insane things he’d ever heard, coming from down _here:_ that meant something.

 

Flowey only seemed to be pushed further by Brainz’s reaction, his range of emotion became larger, and every sentence he’d utter would start strong with a yell and die down near the end.  

“- it was a **_STUPID_ ** plan! And it **_DIDN’T_ ** work! And they got into a fight with **_STUPID_ ** people! And they both got themselves **_STUPID_ ** killed!”

 

Brainz didn’t mind the grammar, he was more pivoted on the impossibility of what he heard, not by his own predetermined standards for once; but for the logics defined _down here…_

“But… _but…_ ehn-”

 

He struggled to talk for a moment, utterly bewildered.

“-the-the _-teh- the_ **_barrier!_ ** **_How????_ **  
**_How_ ** did they do that???

 **_How_ ** did they get out???

 **_How_ ** come I never heard of this???

 **_HOW_ ** come we don’t know this on the surface?!

 **_HOW_ ** come none of this makes **_SENSE??!”_ **

 

It was a torrent of mildly distressed questions thrown at high speed and without any room to let Flowey answer or even think. All they’d do was put more stress on the kid, and at the last one: he finally cracked, looking up to Brainz and shouting as loud as he could, sweat pouring down his weedy face.

“ **_I DON’T_ ** **_KNOW!!!!!!!_ ** ”

 

Brainz jumped, but immediately slowed himself down, and sought to calm Flowey down too, lest anybody hear the shouting from outside… but more so for his grave concern for the kid’s mental health. So he lowered his voice beneath his breath and began gesturing rapidly with open palms.

“ _Ok! Ok…_ calm _down!_ Take it **_easy…”_ **

[I don't want to remember....](https://youtu.be/ntQAUwn1j_Q)

 

He’d hunch over to match Flowey’s eye level and follow his words with some low and quick shushes.

 

But Flowey wasn’t going to stop, it wasn’t like he could: he was in the midst of a despairing rant and both of them subconsciously knew it wouldn’t be over until it was over.

“They both got themselves killed…  and then… **_Asgore…_ ** went **_*crazy*_ ** it broke his heart so much that he lost his mind too… he decided that he wanted to make _everyone_ feel the loss that he did: and that he was going to take _everyone’s_ families away-”

 

Flowey kept his voice down to a bitter growl, critical and resentful.

“-so he continued what his children started, and has made it to where any human who falls down here is killed and their SOUL is brought to him… so he can use them to break the barrier and take his own “revenge” (If you can even call it that) on everyone who is “guilty” by being human… like _you,_ Brainz… **_you’re_ ** guilty of what happened to Asriel by default to him-”

 

Obviously Flowey didn’t agree with it, he was stating it out abruptly and in the most direct way possible… all for Brainz to realize how much bullshit there was involved in this. He wanted to say _something,_ some agreement or claim that he couldn’t have had anything to do with _anything,_ or how overzealous Asgore really was… but he couldn’t think of anything, he just had to hold tight and listen to the rest of the rant.

 

Flowey seemed to calm just a tiny bit, he took a long and bitter sigh.

“-shortly after he got mad… the queen _‘mysteriously’_ vanished-”

 

Cocking his head especially to Brainz.

“-I’m sure you can figure _that_ out-”

 

Yeah, it was no contest.

 

“-so yeah! Asgore’s declared war on _humanity_ and vowed to _destroy_ it: _ALL_ because of his **_STUPID_ ** kids! How about that?

 

 _HOW_ about **_THAT??-”_ **

 

He was getting worked up again, to higher levels than before for an explosive kind of finish, using all of his pent up frustration. He got faster and faster.

“- _ALL_ **_HIS_ ** fault! **_ALL_ ** of it! He didn’t **_HAVE_ ** to do it! But the stupid kid, **_DID!_ ** And now look where it left everyone! If it wasn’t for **_Asriel, *I*_ ** wouldn’t be **_STUCK_ ** like this, all ALONE and MISERABLE… and **_YOU_ ** wouldn’t have to be down here doing **_EVERYTHING_ ** for me! You wouldn’t have to deal with all this **_GARBAGE!!_ ** Nobody would **_BOTHER_ ** you! If you wanna be mad at someone, be mad at **_ASRIEL,_ ** that…. Freaking **_LOSER!”_ **

 

Flowey succumbed to a climax in hyperventilation, he was at his end and frantic: sounding terrified and fed up. He wouldn’t have even been able to start crying: not enough breath. But before it could worsen, Brainz vouched to stop it.

 

For the second time, Brainz dared to lay his red hands upon Flowey. Cusping them around the plant. His fingers gently stroked those delicate petals, he hoped if Flowey couldn’t feel it, that the gesture itself would show he cared. Brainz brought himself within inches of Flowey, and only whispered: taking caution not to breathe on him.

“It’s alright… just breathe… _breathe-”_

 

It made Flowey look into his eyes again, still trembling. Brainz set his own emotions aside.

“-It’s alright… I got’chu I gotcha right here… just _breathe_ ok? You think you can do that for me?”

He held his stern, yet open and caring look.

 

Flowey gazed into it for a handful of moments, still breathing at a rushed pace… but at a point: he nodded at Brainz and would closes his eyes… beginning to slow himself down. Brainz only encouraged him, staying gentle: still holding him.

“There you go… nice and easy… I got you right here, it’s all good… I got you, I’m gonna make it alright, I promise.”

 

It just slipped out, there was no taking it back now. But before Brainz could even begin to regret what he just said, Flowey sighed again and whispered with hopeful resolve.

“Thank you…”

 

He had to go with it, and he nodded like nothing was wrong.

“Of course, you can count on me.”

 

Flowey had something welling up in his voice, it sounded like it hurt to hold it.

“Thank you, Brainz, I’m… I’m sorry I got mean at you, I didn’t want to have to remember…”

 

It was already forgiven long before Flowey apologized.

“It’s alright… I understand now: that was... -”

 

Brainz looked away for a moment and came back to Flowey, dwelling on something else. He found himself putting a smirk on his face and sounding his admiration.

“-that was really brave of you, Flowey: bringing that up… I never would’ve figured out how personal it was…”

 

“If it wasn’t for Asriel… I wouldn’t be like this…”

 

“I get it… I think I get it a lot… you know something, Flowey?”

 

“What?”

 

Brainz made a sigh of his own and finally removed his hands from the flowerpot, he did lean in closer though, so he could lean against the table. He looked into the world outside, gray and desolate.

“My life was ruined by kids, too.”

 

Flowey perked up again, his eyebrows reached the top of his face.

“What? _Really?”_

 

Brainz nodded for sure, and he held up two fingers.

“Yeah, I’m not kidding: _two_ of em.”

 

“You had two kids? Like, you were a _dad?”_

 

Brainz’s eyes deviated away for just a second, he squinted too.

“ _Kind of…_ but yeah… if it wasn’t for them- I uh…-”

 

He had to hand it to Flowey for being able to talk about the past like that, Brainz could never make himself go back that far… even now he was already feeling horrible. He cleared his throat and tried to put the pain away.

“- _MMhm,_ I wouldn’t be here either-”

 

Then his bid to get the attention off of himself.

“-small world, huh?”

 

“No _kidding.”_

 

Brainz could still sense it in Flowey, he didn’t want to go back to himself: so the only option was to move on, and he knew _just_ what to do. And he suddenly sounded agitated, his pilot light grew into a flame.

“But you know _what??_ That doesn’t give me the right to take it out on _everyone_ and declare **_war_ ** on humanity!!-”

 

For all intents and purposes, this was not hypocritical to say. He had **_reasons_ ** for his actions, so it was **_completely different,_ ** everybody he ever brought down had it coming.

 

Especially Asgore…

“- _Nah…_ it _doesn’t.”_

 

They had finally departed from the past, there was nothing more they needed, nothing to further dwell on. Now, it was just the present and how to make it catch up to the future. Brainz stood up from Flowey and cracked all of his problem joints: he could just feel the soreness and aching.

 

Flowey asked him with open wonder.

“So what are you going to do now?”

 

Brainz looked up for thought-

“ _Well…-”_

 

-and gingerly placed his hands into his coat pockets, Brainz then shrugged and presented himself quite casually.

“-I’m gonna kill him! That’s about that-”

 

Then, his one hand emerged: with Asgore’s would be killer.

“-remember this?”

 

Brainz brandished and shook the grenade around.

 

Flowey couldn’t resist laughing at it, he tried… but boy he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Yes.”

 

Brainz was able to smile too.

“And I was getting tired of carrying this thing around…”

 

He tossed the explosive in the air to catch it again.

 

Flowey made another amused sound and asked Brainz.

“Do you still have the ring on it?”

 

The pull on the safety pin dangled freely, almost glimmering in the light, Brainz nodded.

“You got it.”

It was going right up Asgore’s royal ass, the one promise Brainz _could_ feel good about. There was just one more thing to discuss though, Brainz left it sitting around in him for the entire time.

“So uh… you know if there’s any uh… well, _soldiers_ up ahead?”

 

Flowey squinted for a moment, but the question didn’t lose him too much, he was able to give an answer.

“Mmmm, _yeah…_ but only a couple-”

 

He had his own question then, void of judgement but it still wasn’t fun to ask.

“-they don’t like you either, do they?”

 

Brainz was going to have to address that sooner or later, preferably after he got through with this, by then: he’d be a “good guy” to Flowey and nothing else would matter. But for now, he just shook his head slowly… and spoke with the same burden he always did when talking about this.

“No…”

 

He awaited what would be said next, and already prepared something dismissive, something reminding Flowey of the task at hand, but truly: he wouldn’t need to… Flowey had something else to say about it, no assumptions, but a single judgement. It sounded so skittish and open, as if Flowey knew it could’ve defied Brainz as a person.

“That doesn’t mean you’re a bad guy…”

 

It took him by surprise, by everything he knew: Flowey was telling a lie to him… but was too naive to know that he was. That same cold and slimy feeling, the one that crept up his back… it wasn’t from the frigid and filthy waters he was soaked in when he met Flowey. It was his own sins. Brainz couldn’t agree with him at all, he knew what he was; Flowey didn’t enough to make that distinction. All Brainz could really do, was nod… his vague response to everything.

 

He approached the gaping entrance down below, the ever disliked basement: he knew he wasn’t going to like what he found down there… but it was going to be over soon.

“Flowey?…-”

 

He hesitated from descending, looking up to his friend from behind the railing.

“-I don’t want you near the throne room when I get there… I’m going to need you to stay put, stay here.”

 

He knew there would be protest.

“What? _Why??_ I can take care of myself, you don’t need to-”

 

“ _No…_ I know you can: I mean, you’ve been down here for longer than _any_ one ever _should._ Let alone me… but it’s just-”

 

A sigh, the most genuine one he had.

“-I don’t want you to see this, Flowey… It’s… not gonna be nice… especially with the other people.”

 

Flowey was quick to prove himself, quick on that retort, almost whining.

“Hey! I can handle it! I’ve seen _worse_ things before!”

 

“Flowey… **_please_ ** _…_ for me.”

 

He hated asking anything from _anyone,_ Brainz always lived by the philosophy that he didn’t need _anyone_ except himself, why ask anyone anything. He didn’t believe in what he asked himself, because it _wasn’t for him…_ it was solely for Flowey’s sake. He believed truly what Flowey was telling him, that a bloody skirmish of bullets and entrails was nothing in terms of what he’d witnessed… but Brainz knew that Flowey wouldn’t be able to handle seeing **_him_ ** fall to his, if he lost this. It would break the kid… and even though he wouldn’t be able to care about it at that point… he did _not_ wish to risk inflicting the kind of pain he felt on a daily basis on this child.

 

Going when the the world would end, without the added heartbreak, it was still a horrible way to die... but it was better than grieving for someone like him. Wasting tears on an old crook.

 

So when he asked what he did… he meant it more than anything in the world at this point. He couldn’t tell what face he was making, the way his muscles felt… was unlike what he’d acclimate to, but whatever way he looked into Flowey’s simple eyes… and however he voiced this. Flowey gave in.

“Okay Brainz…”

 

Relief… heartache.

“Thank you… when it’s over… I’ll come and get you- but you hide until you hear my voice… okay?”

 

Flowey nodded and before he sunk into the pot… he winked and stuck his tongue out.

“Give em hell, Brainz!”

 

Brainz nodded back and flashed his own smirk, and then he descended. This was going to be hell, and he was walking right into it: midday and front doors swinging… the way he _always_ did it.

[Give em hell, Brainz...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBXTxJQGwjw)

  
  
  
  
**38:41:22**

**38:41:21**

**38:41:20**

**...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the song Brainz was thinking of.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaCHLRB-4Oo
> 
> And this is the song that *actually* played.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTDv_szmL0
> 
>  
> 
> I do not wish to devalue these songs by stating they were found in the dump.  
> Brainz on the other hand...
> 
> Special thanks to Vikingaspöke for finding a trendy song to inflict on Brainz, you made this world just a little bit better.


	9. .Seeding Faithlessness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You aren't going to let a little thing like *that* come between friends, right?  
> You're better than that.
> 
> Yᴏᴜ ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴛᴏᴏ ʟᴀᴛᴇ  
> Yᴏᴜ ɪᴅɪᴏᴛ...

[Just where am I exactly??](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBXTxJQGwjw)

 

“Well… here I _go_ ….”

He knew he was nervous, the corridor wasn’t as empty as it was laden with foreboding. Every step he took made a profound noise that would carry far in both directions. Brainz took his time and didn’t hurry.

“It’s no big deal… well, _yes_ it is… but…-”

 

He turned at a corner, making sure it was vacant first, of course. He could feel the tension in his chest and a tightness in all of his limbs, Brainz just focused on breathing and kept going.

“-it’s gonna be _fine…_ I just gotta… _kill_ the king of all monsters, grab Flowey, and then _leave…_ it’s as easy as _that…”_

 

If it really was, he wouldn’t be whispering that to himself just to make sure it was really happening.

 

The path opened up again, revealing another stretch of buildings: Brainz made himself look forward and nowhere else, as for hearing things: his voice was all he didn’t tune out.

 

Suddenly, a nervous shudder turned into a frightened giggle that slipped out of him.

“Y’know… when they asked me ‘Where I see myself in 20 years’ It wasn’t ‘On my way to kill the king of monsters during an invasion…”

 

He thought of it some more, and just couldn’t stop laughing… it truly was, without a sliver of a doubt: the most **ridiculous** and **absolutely** **_absurd_ ** thing he’d ever heard in his life. He didn’t even have to think about Asgore’s scheme.

“-... what was it now… he wants _seven…_ but they said he had _six…_ but you only need _one_ to get out of here? That doesn’t…”

 

No, it doesn’t make sense: so it made sense here.

“- in _that_ regard… that’d make me like… the-  ‘The _Endpoint’_ of it all… the-”

 

Brainz didn’t say this next part mockingly, but his voice did go to some length to exaggerate, only because it’d make him feel better, help his hands from shaking so much and his legs from quivering like jelly.

“- ‘Man who saves or _dooms_ Humanity!’ I’m gonna ‘SAVE the World!’ .”

 

He almost doubled over from the burst of rasping, incredulous laughter. An indecisive grin would not leave his face as well as an amused sounding tone. All synonymous with unbearable anxiety.

“Ohhh my _ga-aawd… what_ is my **_life????-”_ **

 

He thought about how he got here.

“-I missed my god-damned exit on the freeway-…”

 

Then a joke.

“- _distracted driving_ **isn’t** drunk driving… it’s **_so much worse…”_ **

 

It paved the way for _another_ joke, this was good though: these helped him forget he was on the verge of a panic attack, he’d probably get sick again… but there couldn’t have been anything left to sick up at this point.

 

“-hey… do you think saving the _world_ from monsters would grant me a pardon?-”

 

 _That_ was ridiculous, more so than thinking the fate of the world rested on _his_ shoulders.

“-maybe a plea deal? I think _some_ negotiation would be open to consideration… two… maybe _three-_ hundred counts of murder and other things pale in comparison to saving the entire human race I think… I’d go straight up to  _Supreme_ Court this time…”

 

Reality set in.

“Who am I kidding… they’re going to give the army all the credit… speaking of-”

 

(Hmmm, _maybe_ I should’ve asked Flowey why the soldiers haven’t killed Asgore if they’re here.)

 

“- yeah, what’s up with _that?_ I know there’s no way he got _them,_ bullets and military precision beats _magic._ End of story. So what’re they-”

 

He had to stop musing for the path stopped being so long and indifferent and actually needed his input. There was an elevator greeting him-

“Not happening.”

 

So he made a right into the next room and-

“Whooooaa…. _Hoo-ley_ shitting shit **_…”_ **

If he _was_ still feeling disappointed about the home upstairs? This was where that ended. He found himself standing at the far end of a massive chamber. Not one bit of it was natural: smooth tiled floors, tremendous and imposing stone pillars lining both sides and supporting a half cylindrical ceiling, massive stained glass windows casting intricate shadows from the uncanny light behind.

“My… god.”

 

This wasn’t the “Capitol” it was a **_castle…_ ** this room alone could’ve belonged to a cathedral of all things. Brainz had seen some incredible things during his travels below the soil: but that massive castle he once saw across a sea of black and a false sky of “stars”... it still stood above everything… and now, he was standing inside of it. The story was nearing its end, and Brainz was on the last page… one more thing to do and then it would be over.

 

His awe aside… Brainz proceeded down the hall, the echoes from his progress were louder and grander than ever.

 

“These windows…”  
They took his attention again because he found not one… but two peculiarities. He couldn’t help but wonder what was behind them… what was casting the rays of light into this eloquent room. Could it truly be sunlight? No, it couldn’t be… it wasn’t probable, but an enigma just like everything else, devices to create false hopes that the exit was just outside.

 

The windows themselves though… were decorated with that recurring symbol; the circle with wings atop of triangles, something diabolical at this point.

 

To Brainz, that symbol was becoming synonymous with some of the worst excesses of this place inflicted upon him. To make matters worse, he could almost _swear…_ he’d seen it before, on the surface no less! He _knew_ he did, he just couldn’t remember for the life of him ,but he _knew_ that this place was _not_ the first that he’d seen this mysterious icon. But there was no point in wasting his time on it… he turned away from the panes and kept walking.

 

But hey, how fitting was what could become the worst experience yet had a room full of those symbols to commemorate it.

 

“Oh…. right: they’re called “Delta Runes” right…-”

 

Somehow he remembered, he didn’t sound anything above “dejected” about it.

“-prophetic bullshit…”

 

Maybe that was why it bothered him, because he _ruined_ the prophecy. 

 

“Huh?”

Brainz was almost on the other end of the room, but stopped when he had an unsuppressable impulse to turn around, of course he did and found a completely empty hall. Was someone _supposed_ to be there? He wouldn’t know, but that overwhelming sensation of deja vu was back. For some other odd reason, he felt like he was being mocked.

 

He had to deal with it though, Brainz just shook his head and kept going.

“Urrgh, I just want this to _end_ already.”

His gripe ended with a yawn.

 

* * *

 

**_THRONE ROOM_ **

 

That’s what it said in his brand of creepy red “one eyed” lettering: right outside of an entrance littered with dead leaves.

(I made it!)

 

He could spare the energy for his headspace voice to sound absolutely astonished.

(I can’t _believe_ this: I am _actually_ here! I fucking _MADE_ it!)

 

His collection of negative feelings could be taken out of the spotlight, because a sense of triumph and accomplishment took it all. Days worth of pessimistic trekking; witnessed anomalies; disgusting abominations to nature, near deaths, bodily trauma, a mid-life crisis, and a storm of mental agony… and he someone ended up at the end. The exit was only _two_ rooms away.

 

Two rooms, one “King of All monsters” , and-

 

“-Pincer Squad **check:** status is _green:_ no problems from the big guy, over.”

 

-a squad of soldiers stationed in the throne room _with_ the king.

 

( _Right… )_

 

[The "Big Guy"](https://youtu.be/sSd3f2ErOlU) 

 

He couldn’t start wondering why this was=...

 

And Brainz _did_ take a peek, instead of waiting for all to go silent: he stuck his head in for a view in the quickest way possible. He could see at _least_ three humanoid figures down a small corridor: inhabiting a room full of-

 

He did it again and caught another glimpse

 

-flowers, vines, leaves… it looked like it’d been overgrown! What kind of king would live in a mess like _this?_ Speaking of….-

 

He did it a third time.

\- damn lighting… he got his sight alright: but Asgore wasn’t more than a _massive_ black shape… with horns, of _course_ he had horns on his head. He was  _enormous._

(Ohh, what the _fuck…)_

 

...=because the soldiers were still talking, one of them must’ve been speaking into a transceiver; he continued his radio jargon.

“Still haven’t got anything from the CORE teams: Confirm we’ve got someone watching the exit? Over.”

 

Brainz could only tell someone on the other end was talking by the quick lived static from an incoming message. The receiver seemed unsettled by it.

“ What?? Uh- eh **_say again._ ** **Over.-”**

 

“What’s goin on?”

Somebody else showed their voice.

“-Shh! I’m trying to hear this.”

 

There was another round of static as the message was being repeated, and at the conclusion of this one: a clearly _distressed_ man replied.

“ **What?!** What was the **20** of the encounter?? Confirm that we’re supposed to be getting backup here!... **_*over*”_ **

  
“ ** _Are. We. Getting._** ** _BACKUP????:_**  Acknowledge…. ** _Over._** ”

 

“They could’ve been _compromised!_ You haven’t heard from them since. Why haven’t any of you informed us until _now!?_ This is a primary area and he could be on his _way_ already! Dispatch a sentinel squad **_immediately!_** We need to do a perimeter check! OUT!”

 

All Brainz could deduce from his eavesdropping was that whatever conversation was occuring had escalated quickly, he assumed they were talking about him… which would make such an escalation make sense.   ****

 

As for “compromised” he had no idea what they were talking about, but **“perimeter check”** he knew exactly what it meant, it wasn’t good news for him. It meant that they were about to fan out and check every inch of floor space in the area for hostiles… or in this case, _him._

 

The window on his one plan was beginning to rattle: it was about to slam shut on his fingers.

* * *

 

He came up with it as he was walking down the stairs, it didn’t start off well:

Because of the soldiers, Asgore wouldn’t receive his unbroken attention: it broke down to one laden fact that Brainz wasn’t going to stick his M67 Grenade up Asgore’s rectum like he’d built up and promised Flowey. Brainz never actually thought it out to fruition either, which would require him picturing himself reaching up there…

 

It wasn’t happening, but that didn’t mean the grenade wouldn’t have its chance for glory, Brainz was going to throw it in the room in hopes that it would terminate everyone inside.

 

He knew guns were inconsistently effective on monsters, but a fragmentation grenade _had_ to work. He’d settle if it just wounded the beast, as long as everyone else succumbed to the blast and shrapnel. He’d make off with their dropped firepower if needed. It wasn’t a very _good_ plan, but ingenuity took a back seat when explosives were involved.

 

* * *

 

His ability for last minute analysis turned into five seconds of frantically getting the weapon out of his pocket and into his throwing arm: fumbling with his other hand to get a finger wrapped around the pin.

 

Brainz felt the rush of a hundred thoughts rampantly sounding off in his head: but he wouldn’t let them delay him any further: not when he heard footsteps coming his way from inside the room. He separated the pin from the explosive right away and reared his arm to throw it. His legs prepared to leap into the hallway for him to make a straight and direct shot. The surprise of this would hopefully buy him enough time to take cover before the gunfire and especially before the blast. Getting to cover his ears would be a miracle.

 

He took a deep breath and would jump into action when his lungs reached capacity.

 

**_“HEY!-”_ **

 

Brainz would’ve made a shrill yelp if he didn’t gag on his own breath, he almost dropped the grenade as he would himself if he didn’t hold his balance after the jump.

 

Lucky for him, and he would find out by deduction, that the angry outburst was coming from inside the throne room, and it _wasn’t_ directed at him.

“- **_what did I say?! You make a move and she’s DEAD! You hear me?!”_ **

 

The high strung soldier, turning his anxiety into an oppressive yell. The footsteps stopped, and Brainz could just barely hear the sound of weapon safeties going to sleep. The voice began speaking again… with much less volume, different targets. Still nervous, itching to get going.

 

“(Fuck)... One of us is gonna have to stay and watch this fucking asshole… it’s gonna make the damn check longer, but we don’t have a choice… _Saplatti.”_

 

“Yes sir?”

 

“I need you to hold the fort while me and Kursqet scour the area.”

 

Now _he_ was the one sounding anxious.

“What? You can’t be _serious_ sir, I can’t keep this huge guy under control by myself! Look at him!”

 

The one calling the shots, perhaps the squad leader of the trio; was rushing to move on. His impatience was showing.

“He’s not going to _do_ anything, you don’t even need to point your gun at him, just _keep_ your radio out where he can see it- tune it to channel **two,** like that. That’s our men in the first area, here lemme-”

 

He changed his tone of voice back to commanding and assertive because he was now addressing someone else on the other side of the radio.

“This is Corporal Massula coming in from the Throne room, calling for a status on the **lock** squad: do you copy? Over”

 

These guys were _closer_ than Brainz perceived, they were _so_ close that he could actually make out the voice crackling in from the radio.

“Loud and clear, Corporal, Proceed with your message. Over.”

 

“Gimme a status on codename **lock.** Over.”

 

There was a sliver of recognizable confusion in the upcoming answer.

“Uhh oh, she’s fine? I’ll uh-”

 

The voice coming from the radio dropped a little, as if the man on the other side turned his head away from his receiver.

“- heya, you doin alright there?? Someone’s askin bout’cha.”

 

**“Oh!, Well I’m just _fine:_ thank you for asking! Tell your friends I said _hello.”_**

(That… **_ＶＯＩＣＥ...._ ** That humbled and sweet politeness… only affected by static: not rasping and shrill… it couldn’t be… Brainz did _not_ hear that)

 

There was a subtle yet audible chuckle coming from the radio.

“Heheh, yeah: Toriel says ‘hello’.. over.”

 

(Yes… he… did…  and so did the trio of soldiers yards away, so did anybody listening on that channel…)

 

Corporal Massula continued the conversation, ignoring the greeting-

“Copy that, that’ll be all: Primary Sentinel squad, Out.”

 

-then he was speaking back to his squadmate: returning his rushed tone.

“See? They got her under watch, if _he_ so much as gets up from his seat all you gotta do is remind him we have orders to kill her if he does…”

 

By the time Corporal Massula and Private Kursqet cleared out from the throne room, Brainz was _long_ gone…

* * *

 

[This changes everything...](https://youtu.be/ViZRz70f1qU)

 

He was already halfway through the grand hall before he could even remember what was going on: he just started running and now he was here… he hadn’t even returned the pin to the very _live_ grenade still clutched in his sweaty palm.

 

“Oh my god…”

 

He huffed and slid as he made the turn out of the room without even slowing down, he crossed the path with the view of the besieged city in a full sprint.

“ _Ohhh_ my god… Ohh my god…”

 

She wasn’t dead… she was quite the opposite, he didn’t kill her… _they_ didn’t either. There was nothing in the world to justify why, and even more ‘nothing’ to justify what Brainz was doing.

 

He made it back to the clone house within a minute, never stopping or even slowing down as he burned through his energy: he bounded up the stairs, skipping every other step as he leapt to the top. Eventually, Brainz skidded to a sweating, wheezing, and doubled over halt. His pulse was like the piston of a fully choked engine, he could feel it pounding in his eardrums.

 

“Flowey..”

 

He couldn’t finish the word properly, his body couldn’t allow more than a second before he needed to gasp for air. He could feel flames scorching his windpipe again… and he knew there were people coming from behind… he didn’t have time for this. But he still tried, no matter how much it hurt, as he felt his insides tightening up.

 

His rasping exhales tried again to become words, each time had more and more effort and more guttural noises.

“Flowey… flowey…. _Flowey…_ **_*Flow-eeeeEEEy*”_ **

 

“Brainz? You’re back already?”

 

Some hope returned to him in the form of a curious face emerging from the flower pot again, Brainz rewarded himself with a moment of heavy, frantic breathing.

 

Flowey didn’t pick up anything from Brainz and went on with an assumption.

“You killed Asgore, that **_fast??_ ** Wow! You’re **_amazing!_ ** That’s like-”

 

Before he could sound too happy or hopeful, Brainz stopped him, earnestly holding up his free hand (with the pin still around his finger) and shaking his head as much as he could. He still couldn’t formulate words between his pants.

“N-nn-Nnnuhh-.... _Nnhh… Nhhu… NNhh… NNeehn… -”_

 

Flowey couldn’t get the gist of what he was trying to say… or the fact that Brainz was about to faint… thankfully though: he saw the unexploded grenade in Brainz’s hand and jumped to the correct conclusion this time. Not so thankfully, Flowey was disappointed to say the least.

“You didn’t kill Asgore? _Why??_ What happened?? Why did you run away??”

 

“Tuh-... Tt-t-t… To- Tuh.. Tor-. (I can’t breathe)-”

 

He had to keep Flowey waiting as he bent over into himself, making loud and guttural noises from his throat. At least Brainz had the opportunity to put the grenade asleep again, he ‘ ***** **_especially*_ ** especially’ didn’t want to blow himself up now. It took a special kind of effort to listen for anything above the ringing in his ears, for footsteps coming up the stairs. Probably more effort than slowing his breathing back to communicable levels.

Eventually he worked himself up to taking a long breath and letting it out without stuttering, he still felt light headed but that was good enough. Brainz wiped some of the sweat from his brow and cleared his throat, then he was right to business, hushing his voice down to a low rasp.

“Flowey… I found something out… something _major-”_

 

“Enough to make you fall back on our plan together? What’s _that_ important?”

Of course he was skeptical.

 

“It’s _Toriel…_ she’s… _alive…_ they didn’t _kill_ her for some reason! I don’t know why but-but-”

 

He lowered his voice even more and closed in, concealing half of his mouth with his hand, the universal gesture he didn’t want this to be heard.

“-she’s related to Asgore somehow-”

 

The face Flowey made…

 

“-I _know!_ I have no idea why, b-but she’s involved and _they_ know it somehow! I should’ve known… she only _wears_ that freaking delta rune on her dress!”

 

Brainz gave Flowey a moment to process what must’ve been a truckload of thought, Flowey didn’t even change his expression from the skeptical eyebrow raise.

“Oh I _knew_ that already…”

 

“ _What?!-”_

He silently screamed and suffered a small muscle spasm.

“ _-why didn’t you tell me?!”_

 

The skeptical tone became accusing.

“ _Why…_ does it matter??”

 

Brainz found that he was unable to answer that, no amount of sputtering and lost words would justify him. But what he could say, would come as a shock: as he completely changed his tone and stood up.

“I have to go get her.”

 

Flowey didn’t keep his voice down.

“ **_WHAT!?!??!?”_ **

 

“I _have_ to go back and get her out of this.”

 

“ _No_ you don’t!! What is she to **_you??!_ ** Are you out of your **_mind!!?”_ **

 

Brainz made another compulsive check for footsteps, swore he was starting to hear echoes: there was no time to win with Flowey, he’d already asked for him to blindly trust him once, maybe lightning would strike twice.

“ _Kind of!_ Listen to me, they’re gonna be coming from the throne room, they’re looking for _me!_ I’m gonna need you to hide again, I’ll be back… _again!_ It’s just gonna take a little longer this time! But I _will_ be back!”

 

Flowey was **_hysterical,_ ** Brainz couldn’t even fully realize this.

“ **_BRAINZ, NOO!!!_ ** You are _NOT_ doing this!!!   _Don’t DO THIS TO_ **_ME!!!_ ** WE ARE *SO* CLOSE, AND YOU’RE GOING TO THROW IT ALL AWAY FOR A **STUPID** _MONSTER!!!!-”_

Brainz was already on his way to the exit-

“I **_have_ ** to! I owe it to her!! I’m not going to leave her behind!”

 

Flowey’s petals were fluttering by an unseen force, his two leaves had sprouted thorns and his simple face had devolved into a jagged display of horror. His voice mutated to something unprecedented.

“-BUT WHAT ABOUT **_ME!?_ ** YOU PROMISED ME!!! **_YOU. PROMISED. ME!!!!_ **

 

Brainz was already out the door and jogging up to a full sprint again. He turned around and kicked his legs into reverse as he faced the house and the upset flower through its window. He called back, already guilty of his one sin with Flowey.

“- I’ll be _back_ for you! Don’t worry!! I **_promise!”_ **

 

He didn’t realize that he just devalued that word: it used to mean more than the world… but now, Brainz destroyed its worth with Flowey. There was one final, explosive shout that rang down the halls.

“ **_BRAAAAAIIIIIIINNNZZZZZ!!!!!!  You IDIIOOOOTTTT!!!!!!!!!!”_ **

 

By then, Brainz was already too far away to hear Flowey’s heart breaking.

 

* * *

 

The piles of dust exploded from under his stamping boots, Brainz ducked his head down and leaned forward, swinging his arms to the sides as far they would go.

(He’sgonnahatemeforthis, he’sgonnahatemeforthis **_so_ ** much)

 

The buildings in his peripheral vision began to blur, Brainz strained to keep the ground in from him clear.

 

It was now that he finally thought about himself, but before he could even begin to ask what he was doing: he looked up to see a wall getting bigger and bigger. He reversed his lean and slammed both of his boots into the ground, skidding and leaving behind streaks of scraped rubber as he stumbled. He still collided with the wall, but it wasn’t like last time: he still remembered his name and where he was after hitting it.

 

That didn’t mean his thoughts were intact though: he was going so fast that his brain was having difficulty catching up. All he could manage was a rapid round of word association in his head as he struggled to breathe where he stood again.

( **Soldiers… CORE… Throne Room…. Everywhere... Looking for me…. Can’t go same way...**

 

**…**

 

**Elevator!.)**

 

He wasn’t talking about the same one he left from, but the first elevator he passed after promising never to use them again. It didn’t matter what he promised himself, it  _really_  didn’t matter that he had no clue where it went, and it _certainly_ didn’t matter that the CORE was in danger and so was the electricity that powered the very lift he was standing before.

 

What did matter was that Brainz had to get back to where he started… he called the elevator.

 

The doors opened immediately, the light inside struggled to come on and the cab was eerily silent…. Brainz stepped right inside.

 

He had no idea where any of the buttons went, so he pressed the lowest button he could, assuming it would correlate _down_ with “back”. He hadn’t displayed this level of impulsive decision making in a long time. But hearing that name, and that voice… it spurred him to it. It made him crazy, a crazy man doing something crazy. 

 

The doors shut and the lift rumbled as it sank.

 

Brainz took the opportunity to rest, blowing all of his remaining air from his lips… a disbelieving sigh that finally made him question himself.

(What am I doing…?)

(I think I’ve lost it... )

 

 _Breathe_ … that was about all he could do outside of his head… it was inside his head that he could really comprehend what he just did and what he was setting out to do.

 

Strangely, he remembered his one wish to just leave this place… it felt like he made it years… _decades_ ago. But now, he was doing the equivalent of opting in for some “overtime” going back through the labyrinth of bad decisions and bullshit… only backwards and with prior knowledge. Of course _this_ time, he wasn’t going to be ahead of the military, he was going to be going _right through them!_

 

And all for what?

Some monster he barely knew?

Well _that_ didn’t make sense, if anything: this was probably the stupidest and most out of character thing he’d ever done… it was becoming more apparent when he realized what he stepped into.

“Ooooohhh I _really_ didn’t think this through…”

 

The car quaked and came to the abrupt stop he expected out of it.

“Hoo boy… oooh booy, I-eeeeyy.. May have just-”

 

**_WARNING!! WARNING!! ELEVATOR LOSING POWER!! EM TETHER STABILITY LOST!!!-_ **

 

The terrifying automated voice had a new, more urgent procession of alarms to go with it: shrill wailing. It even had a flashing alarm light to finalize the panic: red, like the embers of hell awaiting below.

 

Brainz shouted the rest of his regrets,

“-I _immediately_ **_regret this-”_ **

 

Then, the elevator made a deafening sound from above: like a transformer exploding from a lightning strike, the entire car lurched and then began descending at terminal velocity, exposing Brainz to an elevated G-force that he felt as his insides lurched as well.

“- **_DECISION!!!”_ **

 

The lift had one more grievance to shout out, the automated voice stuttered and broke up.

**_AL-TT-ttTTUDE D-RROPppinn-_ **

 

There was a blast of static and then everything electrical cut out, turning this into a pitch black free drop into the center of the earth.

 

Brainz yelled the entire way down, the last thing he remembered was Flowey calling him an idiot… the kid was right. He really  _was_ stupid. 

 

Everything went black after that…

[Slipping Back into Oblivion ](https://youtu.be/MbbZxODRAvg)

 

**37:57:47**

**37:57:46**

**37:57:45**

**...**


	10. True Lab

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ꜱᴏ... ғʀɪᴄᴋɪɴɢ ᴍᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ, ᴡᴏʀꜱᴛ ʀᴇᴅᴇᴍᴘᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀʀᴄ ᴇᴠᴇʀ...  
> Tʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴅ ɢᴜʏ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴɢᴀ...  
> Wʜʏ ᴅɪᴅ ʜᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ *ʜᴇʀᴇ* ᴏғ ᴀʟʟ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇꜱ?
> 
> Wʜᴀᴛᴇᴠᴇʀ... ᴀʟᴍᴏꜱᴛ ᴅᴏɴᴇ, ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ɢᴏᴛᴛᴀ....  
> Oʜ ᴍʏ ɢᴏᴅ... Tʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ʀɪɢʜᴛ, ɪᴛ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇ.
> 
> Tʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴘᴜʀᴇ ᴅᴇᴛᴇʀᴍɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ! Tʜᴇ ᴇxᴛʀᴀᴄᴛᴏʀ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ɢᴇᴛ ᴀ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɴᴛʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀᴍᴏᴜɴᴛ, ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇʟʟ??  
> Nᴏ... ɪᴛ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇ, ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ʙᴇ ᴀ ʙᴀᴅ ꜱᴀᴍᴘʟᴇ: I ɢᴏᴛᴛᴀ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ.

 

The machines chirped a steady rhythm, they were the sole tethers that kept him bound to the world. Beyond the grasps of unconsciousness, the voices trickled in.

 

 

**ᴶᴱˢᵁˢ... ᴴᴱ'ˢ ᴵᴺ ᴿᴱᴬᴸ ᴮᴬᴰ ˢᴴᴬᴾᴱ... ᵞᴼᵁ ᵀᴴᴵᴺᴷ ᴴᴱ'ˢ ᴳᴼᴺᴺᴬ ᴾᵁᴸᴸ ᵀᴴᴿᴼᵁᴳᴴ?**

 

**-ᴵ ᴰᴼᴺ'ᵀ ᴷᴺᴼᵂ... ᴴᴱ'ˢ ˢᵀᴵᴸᴸ ᴮᴿᴱᴬᵀᴴᴵᴺᴳ, ᵀᴴᴬᵀ'ˢ ᴬᴮᴼᵁᵀ ᴬᴸᴸ ᵂᴱ ᴳᴼᵀ.**

 

 **ᴰᴵᴰ ᵂᴱ ᴱᵛᴱᴿ ᶠᴵᴺᴰ ᴼᵁᵀ ᵂᴴᴼ ᴴᴱ ᴵˢ? ᴬᵀ ᴸᴱᴬˢᵀ ᵂᴴᴼ ᵂᴱ ᶜᴬᴺ** **_*ᶜᴬᴸᴸ*??_ **

 

**_-ᴼᴴ, ᴺᴼ: ᵂᴱ'ᴿᴱ ᴺᴼᵀ ᴳᴼᴺᴺᴬ ᶠᴵᴺᴰ ᴬᴺᵞᴼᴺᴱ ᵂᴵᵀᴴ ᵀᴴᴵˢ ᴳᵁᵞ, ᴵ ᴷᴺᴼᵂ ᵂᴴᴼ ᴴᴱ ᴵˢ ᵀᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴ... ᴵ'ᵛᴱ ˢᴱᴱᴺ ᴴᴵᴹ ᴵᴺ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴵᶜᵁ ᴮᴱᶠᴼᴿᴱ._ **

 

 **ᶠᴼᴿ ᴿᴱᴬᴸ? ᴴᴼᵂ ᴸᴼᴺᴳ ᴬᴳᴼ ᵂᴬˢ** **_ᵀᴴᴬᵀ??_ **

 

**_ᵞᴱᴬᴿˢ ᴬᴳᴼ... ᴴᴱ ᴸᴼᴼᴷˢ ᴺᴼᵀᴴᴵᴺᴳ ᴸᴵᴷᴱ ᴴᴱ ᴰᴵᴰ ᴸᴬˢᵀ ᵀᴵᴹᴱ ᴴᴱ ᵂᴬˢ ᴴᴱᴿᴱ... ᴮᵁᵀ ᴵ ᶜᴬᴺ ᵀᴱᴸᴸ ᶠᴿᴼᴹ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴮᵁᴹᴹᴱᴰ ᴱᵞᴱ ᴬᴺᴰ ᵀᴴᴱ ˢᶜᴬᴿˢ, ᴴᴵˢ ᴺᴬᴹᴱ ᴵˢ-_ **

 

 **_“_ ** Ｈｅｌｌｏ ＢＲＡＩＮＺ.”

* * *

 

[Wake up](https://youtu.be/QjZNUDXu7Gk)

 

“Why are _you_ here…”

 

The first thought that came back into him was the one challenging her. She was the first thing he saw as he woke up, a beacon of red staring him down a darkened room. Various decrepit pieces of surgical equipment lined the walls behind her. There was nothing emitting light in here, yet everything could be seen in some dingy depressed glow.

 

She stood right at the foot of where he was laying, some kind of elevated table. She looked as execrable as ever with those vacant eyes and shark like teeth that seemed to stretch even further up her stringy, mangy face.

 

“Ｏｈｈｈ, Ｉ ｊｕｓｔ ｗａｎｔｅｄ ｔｏ **_*ｖｉｓｉｔ*_ ** ｙｏｕ ｉｓ ａｌｌ...

ｙｏｕ ｐｏｏｒ ｐｏｏｒ *ｂａｂｙ*...

ａｌｌ ａｌｏｎｅ ａｆｔｅｒ ｓｕｃｈ ａ ｓｃａｒｙ ａｃｃｉｄｅｎｔ.”

 

Sickly sweet sarcasm… that slow delivery… condescending and playful, she ran one of her disgusting boney claws up his leg, he could feel it stroking his bare skin… it made him aware: that he was completely bare skinned with the exception of a towel covering his groin. Brainz tried to sit up and pull himself away… but he realized that he couldn’t move his body. He didn’t feel anything binding him to where he was; no restraints on his arms or legs… but it felt like an invisible sheet of lead was placed on top of him… he was paralyzed.

 

He didn’t give into the panic yet, he knew she would feed on it: he continued to struggle and angrily grunted.

“What have you _done_ to me?! What _is_ this shit?”

 

He was shushed… slowly and meticulously shushed: as that cold and musty air escaped from her.

“ＳＨｈｈｈｈｈｈｈｈｈ.... ｉｔ'ｓ ｏｋａｙ ｎｏｗ:

Ｉ'ｍ ｇｏｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｔａｋｅ ｃａｒｅ ｏｆ ｙｏｕ."

 

He continued to struggle, only able to feel his heart below his neck.

“You stay the fuck away from me! (Where) The fuck am _I?!”_

 

Some kind of examination room… or more like an _autopsy_ room… he could see pipes and drainage equipment all around him, a hallway that cut off into blackness: trays full of sadistic looking tools that glittered when he looked at them.

 

He could still hear the beeping, no longer monotonous: it hurried… it quickly became frantic… and it only seemed to follow him as he fought more and more in vain: helpless to watch the rotting monster stroll right up to him… she bent down and put her sagging face inches from his. Brainz stopped frantically scanning the room: he refused to give into the urge to panic and stared right into her head through the holes in her face. He gritted his teeth, seething.

“ **_You…_ ** you’re not **_real…_ ** you’re not _her…_ she isn’t _dead…_ and she isn’t **_you!”_ **

 

His hyperventilating worsened, he could smell the rotting this time… mixed with the smell of formaldehyde, the pungent odor tried to convince him otherwise, and the walking corpse herself continued talking as if nothing he said mattered. Still so calm and meticulous.

“Ｉ'ｍ ｊｕｓｔ ｇｏｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｔａｋｅ ａ ｌｉｔｔｌｅ... ＢＬＯＯＤ...”

 

She moved away from his face, only to stop right in front of his limp arm… the cobra of bullets stared right into him, the monster brought both of her claws up and slowly reached for his arm. Brainz turned what he said into a mantra, he tried to yell it as loud as he could… but that was also stifled to a low growl.

“You’re not _real!..._ you’re _not…_ **_real!!_ ** You’re just… in _my head!!_ We _both_ are! I’m not actually _here!!_ This isn’t _real!!”_

 

The beeping was so fast it almost sounded like a continual tone… like a flatline.  It droned into his ears, turning into a deafening ring… louder and louder as he could feel those cold digits clamping onto his arm… lifting it off the table: she stared at it with such a look in her face: **_hunger._ **

 

“You… _aren’t…._ **REAL!!!....** **_This is all just a DREAM…_ ** you can’t FOOL ME… I _know_ what you **_ARE!_ ** You can’t _FOOL ME.”_

 

She held it up and gave Brainz a final look… raising that awful grin ever so higher… and then: she chomped into his arm, burrowing all of those teeth into his flesh. He could _feel_ the pain, he lost all nerve and yelled out in agony. The beeping stopped, it was all over... everything went black.   


* * *

  


Brainz’s eyes shot open and he lurched himself straight up from the table, emitting a raspy sounding _surprised_ sigh. He didn’t take any note of the environment except how much less _red_ there was standing over him and how he felt the pain of existing once more as well as use of his limbs. Only then did he permit himself to frantically look around as he felt his insides struggling to keep up with him.  

 

Where he was didn’t change, although it looked far less nightmarish. Everything was still bathed in a dim and depressing light, but that was credited to the chintzy fluorescent bulbs that buzzed above his head, he had a headache… and everything felt miserably sore and tight; _now_ he was awake, he was sure of it.

 

But how he knew the place he was just in didn’t exist, was slightly different. Being clothless had its silver linings, and back there: he still had all of his fingers and toes… that was a common thing with unconsciousness for him, so much that it became the token of his lucidity. If he could count to ten with his fingers, then he wasn't in the real world.

 

Being there was no one immediately around him, and the fact he wasn’t bound in any way: there was no immediate danger to be realized, so Brainz was able to focus on himself for a little bit longer. He looked at his right hand and saw the finger that ended at its proximal interphalangeal joint. As for his toes when he looked down there, he wasn’t able to tell because they were encased in dusty worn boots. Which led him to the _other_ discovery that he had all of his clothes. From the scratchy and punctured sweater to the mostly reddened leather coat that had _severely_ depreciated in value by this point.

 

Here was the real test now… he pulled his traumatized arm closer to himself and instantly and instinctively looked at it from all over for damage… he was still liable to panicking, especially when he felt it _twinge…_ and for the fact that his sleeve on that one had been rolled up. Even worse? He could see a multitude of little beads of blood jiggling and quivering as he moved his arm: he brought his arm to his mouth and sucked on the spot: **metallic.** Underneath the blots, there was a grouping of tiny pricks in his skin that were already welling up with blood again.

 

It couldn’t have been real, it was just a dream… and that… _thing-_

 

It wasn’t her.

 

-would’ve had his entire arm taken off… not these tiny little pin sized pricks in his arm… something _else_ had done this.

 

Which brought him to the next question.

“Where am I, _now?”_

 

The last thing he remembered was falling down an elevator shaft while feeling critical of his recent decisions… his skull felt two sizes too small for his brain. No room for any theories… and it also seemed there was no time for them either, from beyond the reaches of the low fluorescent lights, down the same corridor that lead to nothing: the pattering sound of scampering bare feet began to grow. It was coming right at him… right _for_ him. Impending doom.

Brainz reached for his gun at the moment’s notice, but it wasn’t in its proper place: his coat pockets had been emptied and the realization of this couldn’t have come at a worse time. He sat up more and frantically patted himself down, a fruitless attempt to find it- he stopped with a surprised shudder as something metallic struck the ground beside him.

The footsteps were getting nearer, Brainz beared to look down from his spot and onto the grimy tiled floor, where the more immediate sound originated from. What he saw was his M67 rolling on the floor and eventually spinning to a halt, the pin was still snugly attached. The striking sound he heard was from it simply falling off the table where he was, it was on his person the entire time… and another look down at his legs would show that this applied to his revolver, which had slipped off of him and was wedged between his thighs with the barrel pointed towards the ceiling.

 

The whys weren’t important right now, Brainz grabbed the gun from his legs and rolled himself off of the table. Once on the ground, he would use it for cover and firing support from the approaching sound. He couldn’t reach the grenade from where he was, but the gun was what he was focusing on: he quickly checked the cylinder for ammunition and when it passed his urgent inspection: he cocked the hammer and aimed the gun at the noise, he could hear the sound of little things rattling on a tray… surgical instruments perhaps.

 

A shape began to form out from the formless black. Brainz snapped a command.

“ _Stop-!”_

 _  
_ The figure jolted to a stop, but a small crashing sound filled the room: it came with smaller shattering sounds and noises of small clutter… Brainz would see a bottle rolling into the room as the noise settled.

 

He tried to hide the fact that he was strung up and terribly discombobulated, he probably couldn’t shoot very straight if he got to that point, luckily for him… it seemed the mystery visitor was doing exactly as he wanted. The shape slowly came into the view of the glowing bulbs above.

 

Then… a low murmur, some disgruntled sounding female voice. Brainz could barely make it out.

“... I’m not even surprised at this point…-”

 

He steadied his aim and grip further, shifting himself to get more comfortable, his head was cocked to the side with his one eye depending on the metal sights atop of his firearm.

“-this is my life now…”

 

He didn’t spare any focus on the bitter voice, considering it was speaking and that it had stopped, he tried his luck further with another aggressive sounding command.

“Come where I can see you and your hands/claws… _whatever… -_ **_SLOWLY._ ** You surprise me and I’ll _fucking_ kill you! You got that?"

 

The voice addressed him and his words, not showing any different emotion. It started with a dull sigh.

“Fine… whatever-.”

 

Just as slow as he requested, the figure emerged: claws facing out where he could see them.

“-did you have to wake up _before_ I patched you up?”

 

It didn’t even look at Brainz at first, it was staring at the mess of identifiable medical supplies scattered on the ground.

 

A pale lizard looking thing, about half of his height… maybe it was more; it was hunching pretty far forward. It had a labcoat on, a filthy, _tattered_ one at that… it was smeared with grime and red, not to mention covered with dust. It was wearing a pair of thick lensed glasses, one of the lenses had a crack in it.

 

The monster had a noticeably exhausted look on its face, while also looking tired of the world, like not even the end of it would phase this monster. Yet, it quivered and fiddled with its claws: its legs were crossed and shaking. The lizard spoke again, finally looking at Brainz, more specifically his arms.

“I was _about_ to come fix your arm you keep staring at, if that means anything.”

 

It was obviously a “she” at this point… and _she_ seemed to notice the quick and compulsory glances Brainz kept taking at the holes in his arm.  

 

He didn’t pay that any more mind than it was worth to him, it was on to more pressing questions as he resteadied his gun.

“Where am I?... What’d you do to me?”

 

The monster blinked a good couple of times and made another sigh… Brainz could hear the quivering in this one.

“Y-you’re… _we’re_ in my laboratory…-”

 

She bent her head down and shook it once, then looked back to Brainz, with a more corrective tone.

“-w-we’re _under_ my laboratory I mean… this is the lab _under_ my lab… my _true_ workspace actually… it’s the only place thee… the soldiers haven’t gotten to, yet.”

 

The words collided and sounded off in Brainz head, he felt his brows lowering and his eyes squinting as something tried to process.

“(Lab… lab..- _Alphys-”_   


He motioned at her.

“-you’re  . _Alphys,_ aren’t you?”

 

“Alphys” didn’t seem to have any joy in confirming that, in fact: she seemed a little sardonic.

“Yes… I’m the royal scientist, and I’m _also_ a **girl** if you’re still having trouble with that.”

 

Brainz ignored the implications, he felt something scratching at his mind besides the migraine, something about this portly lizard thing… he couldn’t remember at the time and just went with the first sarcastic quip he had.

“Funny, I expected a huge guy in surgical scrubs with scissors for hands.”

 

Alphys glared at him, pushing up her glasses and then squinting.

“Well * _sorry_ * to **disappoint** you, of all things.”

 

He still didn’t take her cynicism anywhere, and was back to his agenda.

“How did I get here?”

 

Alphys was ultimately cooperating with with his requests, albeit reluctantly.

“You were found unconscious in the main elevator just down where I came from, we moved you here.”  


Brainz scoffed autonomously and felt his lips muttering something.

“Pfft… chintzy ass elevators _would_ be the death of me.”

He was going to ask a follow up question, but Alphys interjected: her temper had a small flare up.

“ **_Actually…_ ** there was _nothing_ wrong with the elevator-”

 

He interrupted back with a retort.

“ _Yeah?_ Well why did it break just like all the _others?_ I don’t think you’re supposed to have to survive it crashing to the bottom every time you use it.”

 

It seemed despite her initial and outward appearance, Alphys’s resolve was pulled incredibly thin, she was twitching in a way only Brainz would know. Yet, her voice stayed that monotonous volume, hushed and controlled… yet the tone suggested one more push and she would break out and yell. Brainz would make out the most subtle of growls in her voice.

 **_“*Actually*_ ** the elevators did _exactly_ what they were designed to do when there’s a **_power outage_ ** caused by the CORE melting down because its been damaged by humans who don’t know what they’re doing… and if it _really_ crashed, you would be _dead_ actually, what **_really_ ** happened was _you-”_

She pulled a _big_ risk and made an abrupt movement by pointing right at Brainz: who had stood up from his firing position and wasn’t too keen on keeping the gun trained on her. He was _now,_ but she didn’t seem to notice or care.

“-blacked out from the G-force from the falling velocity before the emergency contingencies I designed that utilize the kinetic energy from the falling lift to power interim EM tethers at the bottom stopped the elevator from _actually_ crashing… _that’s_ what...  what happened.”

  
She lost her momentum right at the end, and took in the silence she made as Brainz stared at her, blinking willfully. Alphys’s shuddering worsened for a moment until she made another quick movement to slick back the top of her finned head and take a long breath. It was like she just realized who she delivered that line to and tried to backpedal. Repeating herself as if she didn’t mean anything insulting.

“Uhh… _y-yeah…_ that’s uh… I just wanted you to know that uh-”

 

Her legs trembled again and she looked down for a second, whispering to herself.

“-oh _god.”_

 _  
_ She couldn’t finish her sentence…

 

“ _Ok_ then.”

Brainz just went with it, strangely unwilling to argue. He understood about… _some_ of what she said, but mostly took it as something he needed to just nod to lest she repeat herself and subject him to more indiscernible science. He'd just move onto his next topic of interest while Alphys did… _whatever_ she was doing hunched into herself.

“How long have I been out?”

 

“A-eh… an _hour… no-_ not even… _forty minutes- forty-five_ at the most.”

 

“Forty-Five _minutes??...-”_

Brainz relayed that, sounding perturbed and slightly disbelieving of it. He didn’t like losing any time, and _that_ was a lot of time to lose. He whispered to himself, it would be heard by her too.

“- _shit!”_

 

Alphys brought herself back to her normal anxiety hiding tone, quite eager to keep him from stressing over it, impulsive to keep him calm.

“I didn’t think you were going to wake for at _least_ another hour, you were completely unresponsive to everything… it’s why you surprised me being up so early… then again, when haven’t you been surprising?”

 

It brought something else back to mind, Brainz’s one sleeve was still rolled up: he was able to look at the spots on his arm… and once again did he clean the blood off with his mouth.

“What’d you _do_ to me? I didn’t do this in my sleep, I don’t think…”

 

Alphys flushed a bit from what Brainz did, and she uncomfortably answered him.

“A-all I did was was take a sample of your _blood,_ I didn’t do anything else…”

 

The harrowing notion of that aside… that was probably the only time anyone could get a sample from him, he hated blood tests and would do anything to get out of them. But he showed her the ‘Quite obviously more than one’ holes in his arm and flashed a skeptical look.

 

Alphys stuttered and pushed two of her claws into each other, she showed a great rush to explain herself there.

“I-i, you- I.”

 

“Why’d you even take my blood in the first place? Why did you _do_ that? “

 

Alphys was spiraling and even caught herself, stopping with another deep breath and then a joyless request of her own to quell his suspicions.

“Come with me, I’ll just show you since you’re awake now.”

 

She looked up to Brainz, into his paranoid gaze: riddled with unsureness. He did straighten himself up again and the gun wasn’t pointed at her for once, but he wasn’t too keen on listening to her.

“ _Why…_ what do have to show me that you can’t say _right_ here?”

 

Alphys picked the distrust out like it was obvious, she glowered at him.

“Brainz, do you really think _I_ of all people wouldn’t know better than to attack you? I don’t want to do that _so_ much that I left your weapons right on you so you wouldn’t think I confiscated them and form another vendetta against me-”

 

He looked to himself and his pockets, Alphys continued: not willing to be discredited in the smallest way.

“-they kept falling out of your pockets, so I laid them on top of you…-”

 

Then her tone softened back to a tired and downcast murmur, and she pointed to the floor just beside his table.

“-the rest of your things are in front of the examination table.”

 

Brainz hesitated for a moment to take his eyes off of her, Alphys sighed again and crossed her arms while looking away as she waited on him. As promised… his bag was there, closed up tightly and about as heavy as he last remembered… of course that didn’t stop him from lifting it to the table and inspecting the contents-

 

While he was down there too, Brainz made sure to pick up the grenade and return it to its respected pocket, the gun stayed in his left hand… just in case. He licked the wound on his other arm again, still failing to notice Alphys making a grimace this time.

 

-Alphys let him curb his paranoia this time… she waited for him to close the bag up and sling it onto his back again. When Brainz finally looked back to her she only rephrased what she just said, twisting her palms out and honestly shaking her head.

“I _told_ you, I know better than to ever try to go against _you_ of all people…-”

 

Brainz moved out from the small row of tables and took his first steps for leaving, of course he kept the gun in his hand: it was a compromise and even Alphys knew that, she turned around and began walking herself, Brainz followed, taking care not to trip on the dropped things.

“-I told everyone else the _same_ thing, no-one’s going to bother you.”   


“Everyone else??.”

He said, unnerved.

 

Alphys kept walking without looking at him, she answered begrudgingly.

“ _Yes,_ there’s others, but they’re not going to bother you, so you don’t need to- _Please stop doing that.”_

 

She had glanced at him while she was talking and couldn’t stay silent on it when she saw him putting his mouth on his arm again.

 

Brainz just scowled at her slightly, he murmured a peevish comeback under his breath.

“It’s my arm I can do whatever I want.”

Part of him didn’t think she would hear him, the same part that authorized such a childish response… of course she did, and didn’t let it slide… Alphys grunted exasperatedly.

“You’re _going_ to make it worse!”

 

“It won’t stop bleeding because of you! _You’re_ the one who stuck me a thousand times while I was out: what _else_ did you do with my unconscious body anyway; _perv?”_   


He made Alphys clench her claws and growled gutturally.

“I _told_ you I only took a blood sample for analysis! ( _Rrrgh!)_ You are _just_ like-”

 

Alphys stopped herself again and made a really sharp exhale and untensed her limbs and herself.

“-I’m going to treat you when we get there."

 

Again, Brainz would’ve liked to hear what she was going to say about him, if only for it to justify a witty retort, but perhaps his interest wasn’t in angering this monster he’s heard so much about, despite her claims against acting out on him.

 

The lighting in the entire place was especially bad the only light that worked was the crappy one he’d woken up to. Everything outside of that room was shrouded in darkness, if Alphys wasn’t covered in bright scales, Brainz would lose her easily: he couldn’t see more than three feet ahead of him.

“Geez… what’s with the lack of lights: this place looks _abandoned,_ shadiest ‘lab’ I’ve ever seen… coming from me, that _means_ something.”

 

Alphys made her most subtle and exasperated sigh yet but didn’t change her pace. Her tone, however….

“I can’t tell what’s more torturous, watching you _destroy_ Undyne, or having to listen to you _now-”_

 

And then she looked right up at him.

“-do you _ever_ stop just… **_bitching??_ ** Goodness _gracious!”_

 

 _Now..._ they both had stopped, right under the only working ceiling light in a larger room, it was dim but it didn’t flicker at least.

 

Brainz’s mind shifted up two gears, one for the subjectively unprovoked attack on him for such a minor observation… and the other for a good portion of his brain lighting up after hearing that name again. Brainz spluttered some uncooked pieces of words and questions, ultimately though: his pride ended up throwing a comeback down at Alphys.

“Yeah? Well stop giving me reasons to complain, and maybe I won’t do it so much!”

 

Alphys buzzed her scaly lips with such a dismissive intent, she was right back at him and began searching through her coat pockets. Brainz raised a brow and felt his hand tightening on the gun.

“What’re you doing?”

 

“I’m just looking for the **_list_ ** of things _you_ gave _us_ to complain about: you’d think I wouldn’t misplace it because I have to add to it so often.”

 

She was trying to be sarcastic, and it was obvious she wasn’t very good at it, she was too nervous to even exaggerate her voice, as far as Brainz was concerned she was being deadly serious to which he felt it was unfair anyway.

 

His voice trembled for a second too, and for a lack of better things to say; he sounded a little juvenile.

“Y- _yeah?_ Well, you guys _started_ it!”   


“Tell me then-”

 

“Ehh?”

He was slightly derailed.

 

Alphys glared right into him, Brainz could see bags under her eyes and a form of gaunt too. She repeated herself with a harder pronunciation.

“-Tell me what first move we did against _you._ Tell me how _we_ attacked _you_ first-”

 

Suddenly it was as if her rising agitation taught her how to _really_ be sarcastic. Alphys managed a full on sarcastic drawl… it was even **_patronizing_ ** as much as it was **_tired,_ ** and absolutely fed up, she clapped her hands together and forced a fitting smile on her face as she looked up.

“-I would **_love_ ** to hear how a couple of sentries in Snowdin tasked with protecting  _children_ were so… “ **_Tragically Cruel_ ** ” at _no_ cause of provocation to _you._ Because I _know_ that’s where this all started, don’t tell me otherwise.”

 

He felt his stance deflating a bit, a mostly limp hand rose up and pointed at her… but lowered shortly after. Another realization came to mind: the lab, Alphys… his map… the screen.

“Ohhh riiiight… the cameras.”

 

She humored him and nodded.

“Mm- _hm.”_

 

He felt the argument beginning to tip on him when just minutes ago he condoned himself thinking there could _be_ no argument about this: that he had been wronged in every way since he fell down here. But now… considering he was forced to think about it more, he was coming up blank. Maybe the way Alphys sprung it on him while he was still disoriented was to blame.

 

Nope, nope: he got something; something came to his mind; something frustrating and even disturbing for extra points. He snapped his fingers.

“Your gay little… (what, was she) _girlfriend_?-”

 

The change on Alphys’s face either meant he was right or very very wrong.

“- I didn’t do _shit_ to **_her,_ ** and she tried to fucking kill me with these stupid bullshit spears, I didn’t do shitting fuck to deserve _that-”_

 

Nevermind the learned predisposition to humans that monsters had; Alphys was arguing in a personal context, and this was by all means; _very_ personal at this point. Undyne even said it herself before… Brainz won.

“-she attacked me first, and everything I did after that point was _justified-”_

 

“Moron.”

He let himself be interrupted by a low and begrudged scoff under her breath. He challenged it right away, assertively. It’d put her in the spotlight now, hopefully cause her anxiety.

“-What was that?”

 

But no, she meant to say that: she made him stall on purpose, because she had something else to say.

“ **_Papyrus…_ ** was all but _adopted_ by her: he looked up to her… wanted to follow in her footsteps. All he wanted to do was join the guard… but he had one thing about him: he was incapable of ever hurting anyone, not even a-”

 

“Oh, that’s **_bull_** _shit!”_

He snapped, the pain he endured from that encounter still throbbed. He was outright insulted.

 

Alphys took notice, but all she did was raise her voice and intent to keep talking, all while never looking away from him.

“- **_human._ ** **She let him pretend to be a guard so he could be *happy* So don’t you say SHE wasn’t justified-”**

 

There was a pause, Brainz was going to repeat himself, Alphys didn’t let him.

“- **_oh?_ ** **And** **Gerson?** **You remember him? He all but** **_*raised*_ ** **her, so don’t tell me she wasn’t justified.”**

 

 _Now,_ it was his turn. He remembered how the unjust treatment felt and how angry he was when they made him the social pariah of this place.

“Yeah? That thing about papyrus? That’s fucking **_BULLSHIT!_ ** You wanna _see_ the bruises he left on me!? I’m sure you probably did as you groped all over me, but have _another_ look!-”

 

As he promised, Brainz parted the flaps on his jacket and pulled up the blood stained sweater: feeling the slight draft on his bare skin as he raised the bunched up wool to his shoulders. He pointed at his stomach, where tattoos and ugly bruises shared the space.

“-you _see_ that?! You call _that_ harmless?! I could be internally _bleeding,_ and you think this is _“harmless?!-”_

 

He awaited for whatever she could’ve cooked up to _“justify”_ her or her deceased friends, Brainz was out in the open with his guns cocked and ready to fight. But Alphys…

 

“Oh my god…”

 

... was gripped with some kind of awe… like she had completely forgotten what she was doing and just stared vacantly at Brainz’s stomach.

 

He sure  _showed_ her, the fact she was so shocked only made him want to drive his point further.

"- _ohhh_ yeah! And don't even get me  _started_ on  _ **gerson**_ , that fool LITERALLY dared me to hit him after fucking threatening me! That was  _his_ fault!"

 

Alphys didn't get him started on Gerson... she was still focusing on his exposed skin, so much in fact that Brainz suddenly found it hard to continue trouncing her and shrugged awkwardly.

“...what.-”

 

He looked down himself, and failed to see anything _newly_ alarming: the aforementioned bruises looked _really_ ugly in the light, but they still hurt all the same.

“-it’s not anymore fucked up than _usual... -”_

 

So he looked back at her and repeated himself.

“- _what.”_

 

Alphys seemed content to continue staring into his gut, even squinting her eyes to get a better a look, Brainz could see her thin lips moving, muttering some soundless words to herself. Suddenly Brainz felt much more uncomfortable, he could feel his cheeks tightening up. He lowered his shirt back and closed up the pink jacket for the first time ever. When that didn’t distract the lizard any, Brainz found himself growing impatient and self doubtful.

“... **_what…”_ **

Perhaps she didn’t look so adamantly focused on him anymore, but she was still in some kind of trance from what he did… _that_ was especially concerning, considering the nature of the letter _addressed_ to her that Brainz threw off a burning bridge once upon a time. He was already regretting pulling up his shirt… his confusion became frustration and he splayed his arms straight out.

“ **_WHAT! What is it!? WHAT!!”_ **

 

 **_  
_ ** Alphys gasped from the outburst and seemingly emerged from the bubble she was in. Shaking her head to return to reality while asking for an update on it.

“What?”

  


“ **_Why’re you staring at me like that?!”_ **

 

She gasped again and shuddered quickly, straightening her glasses once more, keeping up with the pace of urgency.

“Oh! We need to get to the specimen room right away, stop wasting time!”

 

That didn’t help his confusion at all, and as she went into a jog with her short legs, Brainz was left squinting and shrugging.

“What, **_why???_ ** Why _anything?_ I'm not the one wasting time!  What was all _that_ about???? Hey, **_wait!”_ **

 

He had to run to catch up, and by the time he did: Alphys piped up.

“What were we talking about again?”

 

“Uhh… you went off and started blaming me for things because I complained about the _lighting_ in here?-”

 

“Oh, right! Well-”

 

She took a deep breath and restrained her voice back to what it was before her little episode.

“-there’s nothing wrong with the lights or the lab, it’s just that the CORE has been compromised and we got cut off and are running solely on emergency _reserve_ power, which is stretched thin enough as it is… so I can’t afford to keep all the lights on, let alone the _vending machine-”_

 

In the darkness of the current room they were in, Brainz could make out a shape just against the wall, he felt his insides trying to digest themselves when he did make it out. He was _going_ to smash into that vending machine and pillage it like a pirate....it just wasn’t _now._

 

She kept going though, making another gesture towards another break in the darkness.

“- _or_ the main elevator that was used unauthorizedly and almost blew the generator, putting _all_ of us into darkness.”

 

He could see an imposing set of sliding doors in the wall, they were marked by a quartet of blinking lights, one of them was red. In what little light he had to examine it with; Brainz couldn’t see the crease where the doors met, it was solid all the way. It would come to him that the doors had been welded and were shut for _good._ She was obviously talking about _him_ too… which meant they had to have done this some time _after_ he fell… maybe _because_ he fell down here… why did she even bother dragging him out? Speaking of unresolved mysteries….

“Uhh, you gonna tell me whos ‘Us’?”

 

She was impatient too.

“We’re _getting_ there, just hold on.”

 

“What about that little stunt you just did, I think I’m more concerned with _that_ actually.”

 

More impatience.

“ _Yess!_ We’ll _get_ to that, we _just_ need to _get_ there first! Just **_wait!”_ **

 

Brainz sighed and grumbled.

( _Always_ gotta be something.)

 

They entered a narrow hallway just off of the apparent elevator lobby, another set of doors blocked the way, Alphys went right to work pulling some device from her pocket and tapping at it. Brainz would’ve asked what she was doing, but he spared himself another round of excessive ‘sciency’ details. Besides, she didn’t have to do this for long before the door lit up as well as a ceiling light which flickered and came to life.

 

Slowly, the doors slid open, they both entered: Alphys gestured for a pause as she repeated her process, resulting in the doors coming back together and going dormant once more, when she was done and had returned the device to its spot: she made a nonchalant remark.

“Power.”  


Somehow Brainz was able to recognize from that one word that she had temporary rerouted the power to get the door functional for immediate use, then shutting right back down. He would’ve nodded at her understandingly… but something new took his attention, he perked his head up like a wild animal alerted to the presence of a human being… he whispered quickly.

“Do you hear that?”

 

“No?... what.”

 

How could she _not_ hear it, the sound was only reverberating off the metal walls and echoing down the vacant halls. Brainz asked a rhetorical question… with some disbelief.

“You don’t hear that.”

 

“I don’t hear _what?_ What is it?”

 

He just couldn’t process that she wasn’t hearing this, it agitated him and he increased the intensity of his hushed voice.

“The _crying!_ How can you not _hear_ it, do you have _kids_ down here?? What are you _doing_ to them?! Why are they crying??”

 

She was taken back with confusion.

“ _What??-”_

 

But this small dilemma didn’t go any further, she shifted with a realizing thought and shook her hands passively to Brainz.

“- _Oh!_ Nononnono, I mean… _yes_ there’s some up ahead but _I’m_ not doing anything to them!”

 

He was immediate on the rebound.

“I wanna see for myself, _show me.”_

 

“We’re _going_ there already, just _calm down,_ I don’t know why you’re so set on that we want to _torture_ everyone we see fit! The only one who’s done any ‘torturing’ was _you!_ Yet you thought I was a stereotypical  _‘evil doctor’_ who hurts people instead of _trying to help!”_

 

“I still think you _are_ , and I think you’re stalling.”

 

With that notion. He took it upon himself to move forward, leaving her behind, unwilling to stop until he found the source of the sorrowful sounds. From behind, he heard her calling out.

“They aren’t even _HUMAN_ children, _Brainz!”_

 

He stopped right in his tracks… and turned right around. Brainz matching right back up to her, his voice dropped to a low, threatening murmur as an outstretched finger shook and pointed at her.

“That doesn’t change _anything,_ you hear me? **_Nothing,_ ** you think that matters? That I’d let you hurt a child even if they were monsters like you??? You make **_ME_ ** sick… and you think _I’m_ the monster.”

 

Alphys just froze. When she would act, it would start with terribly delayed stutters and unsure sounds. She blinked quite willfully a couple of times.

“I… I-i… I-”

 

But then he eyes shifted somewhere and back, like she just collected a thought. Suddenly she closed them and held her hands out, that same surrendering pose. Her tone was also passive, agreeing even.

“-you are right, I’m _sorry,_ you are absolutely right. But I **_promise…_ ** nobody is getting harmed, they’re all just ahead… and they’re fine! I’m about to take you there, honest!”

 

She seemed apologetic enough to be genuine, Brainz was willing to buy it. Maybe it was because she was the first to take what he said seriously, admitting her fault: that _she_ had wronged _him._ He felt calmer about it… despite the sounds from just ahead.

“Alright then… go ahead.”  
  
  


So they proceeded down the path, and after a turn… it opened up to the largest room yet, the room he had wanted to see… but he found himself unable to comprehend what he was witnessing.

“What… am I looking at?”

  


[Here they are...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D9DShbut2Y)

 

There were monsters… many of them, a congregation of ones he could’ve recognized… along with ones he’d never seen before. They were all huddled in this large room, like it was some kind of shelter. There were numerous beds and cots taking up the floor space with them.

 

Of all the rooms, this one had the least depressing amount of light… yet it was the most doleful place of them all. There was a weak symphony of tired murmurs and bleak sounding mutters filling the air, one by one… every creature in the room seemed lost and desolate. At one bed, there was a small bunny like creature… rubbing its eyes while tears seeped out, a larger and similar looking bunny comforted it, it cried silently… while the noise he heard had stopped. There were other small looking creatures, maybe it was just a coincidence….

  


Alphys turned to him, both were standing at the mouth of this place: full view of everyone and everything. She looked up at him and told him frankly after giving an appropriate amount of time for him to take this all in.

“These… are all the monsters who were fortunate enough to evacuate from the soldiers… like I said, this is the _only_ place left underground that they haven’t gotten to… these are all refugees, Brainz. And I'm doing the best I can to help them.”

 

He just stared into it… it was more than a room full of homeless monsters, more than a crowd of people waiting for death. It was another glimpse at _reality…_ the same reality he’d have thought hours ago to be true… but never expecting to see it firsthand. Like the distant city of muzzle flashes and pathways full of dust and brass… Brainz found it hard to stay connected to the world he was witnessing. He wanted solely for it all to go away. But there was no such chance, he was going to be forced to watch it all.

 

While he would argue to the very end, that he wasn’t responsible to this, the fact of the matter was he knew it was all on him… and every time someone told him that: it forced him to realize it just a little bit more. The most horrible thing he could think of.

“(They’re suffering, they’re all suffering because of you. This is what happens when you exist for too long, you’ll never get close to anyone; they’re all going to _die.”)_

 

“Are you _okay?”_

 

Suddenly, Alphys with a skeptical tone came in and pierced through the ringing in his ears. Brainz felt his lips move, and his vocal chords vibrating… that was about it.

“ _(UUuhhhhhh….)”_

 

And he vacantly turned away from the room and to her, his face was numb. Alphys though… she hesitantly pointed at him, tilting her head uncomfortably.

“Brainz?... your… y-your nose is bleeding.”

 

He pressed a hand to his lip and felt the warm liquid sticking to it, and the sight of this radiant red slime began to undo the muffled sounds of discontent. It did also bring the immense pressure behind his sinuses to mind, making him pinch the bridge between his eyes after wiping the red off with his sleeve.

“ _Uurgh_ , my head… it hurts.”   


“Cmon, let’s get to the sample room.”

“Ok.”

He was compliment for a lack of mental integrity, Alphys would lead the way… directly through the room full of refugees: Brainz would do his best to focus on her and nothing else. Not the eyes he could feel burning through him, not the hushed gasps and hateful murmurs talking about him.

_It’s HIM._

_It’s the *GUY*_

_Look, the REAL monster!_

 

Just keep walking, count the steps, count the tiles: count the fins of the back of the lizard; _anything_ but noticing. They were almost there, he’d look up for moment to see the staircase heading down somewhere deeper and darker, a better place compared to here… they were just steps away from ending this merited walk of shame: when Brainz felt a blunt pain thwacking him in the back of his head.

There was no stopping it now, he took the world in fully-

“Ow! Son of a _bitch.”_

 

-and spun around to face it while rubbing his head… his other hand brandished the gun into full view. It warranted a handful of feeble gasps and anxious sounding moans.

 

He looked all around for who could’ve been the culprit, finding nothing but frightened faces and parents ushering littles ones to hide behind them, it wasn’t until he looked for what hit him on the floor… that he found his assailant.

 

Standing just beyond a dented can, was a small bipedal bear in a striped sweater… it couldn’t have been more than three feet tall, one of the smallest looking monsters he’d seen… and here, it was the _only_ one staring at him willfully… _angrily._

 

It spoke… with a voice that matched its stature and fit any notion of a preconceived age.

“You killed my _best_ friend! You’re not a bad guy, you’re the **_WORST_ ** guy! I _hate_ you! I hope you and all the humans all _die!”_

 

It was threatening him, and owning up to what it did… _blaming_ him for something he couldn’t have done… at least without context. He was just so tired of being unfairly persecuted… that this became the final straw, he felt himself slipping out from his self restraint.

 

Brainz began to step closer to the small thing, he didn’t even know what he was going to do… but he was sure making his way over to _do_ it.

 

But something grabbed his arm from behind and began tugging frantically.

“Brainz, _brainz,_ no, _no, NO_ no!-”

 

It impeded him enough that he diverted all of his attention from the defiant monster: looking back to see Alphys trying her damndest to pull him back: she dug her bare heels into the tile floor and was silently yelling at him… sweat poured from her fins.

“-brainz, **_stop!_ ** He’s a child who lost someone! It’s a child! Stop, _please!”_

 

And like that, he could suddenly tell what he was doing… and just like a switch had been flipped: he instantly felt repulsed and shuddered… the gun was immediately put away, he couldn’t even tell why it was out in the _first_ place. There wasn’t any thought to it… he just found himself about to do something _horrible_ … if it wasn’t for Alphys…: it only gave him another reason to fear for himself, to _fear_ himself.

 

He looked back and forth from the two in his own state of silent stupor, and in between would see the terrified gazes… some with limbs covering their ears, some covering their eyes.

 

He agreed with them… his expression was something of confusion and horror, and he looked back to this… _grieving_ child who was helpless to their own anger. Brainz took a painfully sharp breath and gritted his teeth with _some_ force.

“I’m sorry….”

 

A whisper, pained… he didn’t know what to be more sorry for: for this unidentified friend he was blamed for… or for his own actions he aborted. He felt his hands covering his mouth, that bodily reaction to witnessing something truly appalling.

 

The tugging on him started again, and this time… he felt his legs complying, Alphys was providing all of the intent to leave and the momentum to do so: Brainz just stopped resisting her… but he wouldn’t turn away from that hateful gaze, how he could see the glimmering tears welled up, tucked into the corners of the child’s eyes…

 

(child… sweater… stripes.)

* * *

  


“Cmon, down here… watch your step please.”

 

Alphys ushered him down a dark staircase into the sublevel… Brainz was still tranced even though he finally broke eyesight with the bear child.

“I’m sorry…”

 

They stepped off the descent and found themselves in another sparsely lit, linear hallway, Alphys let go of him finally and took a look at her bloodied hand-

 

She’d grabbed him by the arm with with pricks in it.

 

-she shivered and vigorously wiped it off on her coat, grimacing at the new set of smears… but she didn’t dwell on it and just sighed.

“Ok.”

 

Brainz though… murmured just one more time,

“I’m sorry.”

 

It wasn’t certain if she’d heard any of those from him, but she did see him squeezing the top of his head as hard as he could, both of his hands bumped into each other as he held them firmly on his forehead and began ‘wilting’ over… he groaned from his core.

“Ohhh god, what’s wrong with _me…_ why do I keep doing this?”

 

“Brainz-”

 

She just wanted his attention and didn’t seem to have any comments. He did look up from himself, and when she was sure she _had_ his attention, she just turned towards one end of the passage and motioned for him to follow.

“-It’s just down here… ( _We’ll)_ get your arm fixed, no one’s allowed back here so you won't be bothered, Ok?”

“Ok… sounds good.”

He made himself reset to his default state… it seemed she didn’t want to dwell on this either; and that was fine by him.  


He hoped she was right, he’d hope the entire time they walked into the unknown… until Brainz jumped back and pointed immediately forward. It started with something catching the corner of his eye… and ended with a horrified gasp.

“(WHAT) The _FUCK is_ **_THAT?!”_ **

 

His horror met a formless mass staring them down the corridor.

[It's cold in here...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-EHmQHUwB8)

 

**36:35:21**

**36:35:20**

**36:35:19**

**...**

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	11. Handwriting on the wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴏɴ ʜᴇʀᴇ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ sᴇᴇ ᴀʟʟ ᴏғ ᴜs, sᴜғғᴇʀ...
> 
> 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝙶𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚒𝚝? 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝙳𝙾𝙽'𝚃 𝚈𝙾𝚄
> 
> dσn't líє... чσu'rє αlrєαdч wєαríng thєm.

“ _WHAT IS THAT?! The FUCK am I looking at?!-”_

 

“Calm down! Calm **_down!!_ ** It’s fine!-Stop!-”

 

“- _NO,_ I will **_not_ ** calm down! What the _fuck_ are you doing down here?! What **_IS_ ** that **_THING!!!”_ **

 

“- **SHUT UP ALREADY!! LET ME TALK!!!”**

 

Alphys had abruptly halted the screaming match with a more abruptly instigated outburst, she went the extra mile and jumped into the air, flailing her arms in the motion… it’d worked, that was for sure; leaving both of them quiet outside of panting while making glances at each other and the aforementioned thing that started this.

 

Alphys finished her labored breathing before Brainz-

 

Mostly on the account of his handicap when it came to breathing.

 

-and slicked her fins back again while regaining her composure and perpetually nervous and shy tone.

“ _Thank you-”_

She whispered with exasperation.

“-now if you’d _please…_ give me a moment please?”

 

With that, she took another sigh and proceeded down the hallway… towards the _thing;_ this big formless mass of white slime… it wasn’t alone but its company was sure less terrifying than it. Some large… prehistoric looking bird thing wearing a large mask or maybe that was just its feathers… Brainz really didn’t care for it enough to take his attention off the horrifying white blob.

 

But as Alphys approached them, without any heed of caution, the blob… began to shift and conform… as if some unseen pair of hands was shaping it into something. Brainz just watched in his perpetuated stun, it gained definition and before it would finish morphing… he deduced it was mimicking the shape of the bird creature. It wasn’t a very faithful resemblance… with a smaller and somehow more feminine shape… or the fact it was partially semisolid still with some of the features sagging and _dripping_ as if it was slowly melting.

 

Brainz felt a different outlook though… it had a face… it looked like it was _tortured…_ and he found himself unable to see it as anything but ‘hurting’ this… pitiful looking thing struggling to hold form.

 

Alphys went up to the two and promptly turned her attention to the more ‘normal’ looking monster. She hunched over close to it and spoke in such a hushed tone that Brainz couldn’t hear her, he could only tell from the body language that she was disgruntled about this encounter. The normal monster however spoke back, and Brainz could hear this one. It had a thick accent that he couldn’t even begin to match… and it sounded like it had some speech impediment that slowed it down… but it was still understandable.

“Heyy… I’m just taking the missus on a walk.”

 

There was more of Alphys silently arguing, pointing and shaking her one claw in the thing’s face, she made a small gesture to the melty looking thing-

 

Who, was completely docile… all it did was look between the two and at one point it made a curious glance at Brainz… he himself shuddered, but the thing didn’t dwell on him for long, it had no intent to engage with him it seemed.

 

-she was cross alright, so much that the end of this response was just audible to Brainz.

“-it’s too risky to be _this_ close!”

 

“I’m an old man, let me have my comforts, her too!”

 

In an instant, Alphys was in a sense… rebuked, the creature sounded stern and aloof. Afterwards, she drooped her head and came back to the monster with a defeated kind of nod… as if apologizing for troubling him… it wasn’t until here when the last horse came to the finish and Brainz had a realization… when he saw the normal creature nuzzling with the melted thing, putting a wing around it… around _her._

 

They were like an old married couple. This thing was its wife, they  _were_ an old married couple.

 

He looked into the melted thing’s deep, sunken, misshapen eyes… and that tortured expression shifted. Her face rose and for that moment, she looked happy. The beak moved.

_"...Thank… you..."_

 

  
“I love you too, honey.”

The two began walking again, still together… towards Brainz. He didn’t didn’t react even as they drew so very near, he was frozen. When they came, he found himself pressing his body to the wall as to get out of their way. They didn’t even look at him, so much as pass by. The wife left a small trail of white drippings, and before long… they were gone, vanishing into the darkness behind… the sound of the husband humming softly to his diseased spouse soon left. It left Brainz with a new outlook and questions… they weren’t typical though… for once he didn’t ask the first thing that popped into his head, he didn’t even honor what he _wanted_ to ask first. For some reason, the very first thing that left his lips, was sympathetic.

“What… happened to her…?

 

…

 

**Alphys.”**

 

He had to get her attention, shuffling up to her and grasping her hunched shoulder: she shivered and turned around quite quickly to him.

“What do you want?”

 

He repeated himself, softening his voice too… trying to get the information he wanted… at the same time, he didn’t have any desire to ask anything but this one question, brought out with this demanding kind of tone.

“What happened… to that monster.”

 

She was lost, unsettled from this, but the bitterness in her voice was still present. She was fed up.

“What? You actually want to _learn_ something instead of blaming me for once? I thought for sure the first thing you were going to say was ‘What did _you_ do to it’ or that we’re abominations or some other snide remark.”

 

Brainz sighed with irritation and his own tiredness.

“ _Ugggh,_ can you just _shut up_ and tell me?? Why is that monster like that? **What.** **_Happened._ ** **To her?”**

 

She looked away from him for a moment-

 

To silently mouth a retort (Tells _me_ to shut up now).

 

-but came back and sought to level with him, starting with a pent up sigh.

“There’s so much you _really_ don’t know about monsters… I don’t know what else to tell you except we’re absolutely nothing like humans… you won’t believe a single thing I say, so I don’t know what else to do.”

 

She wasn’t wrong, that was the worst part, but Brainz remembered what she told him before, and the other reason they were coming this way.

“You said you were going to show me something? Seeing is believing, I may just do that if this is related.”

 

Alphys rolled her eyes and kept them looking to the side, purposefully avoiding eye contact as she shrugged discardingly.

“ _Why not._ Sure…”

 

She walked forward and stopped only to gesture for him to follow.

“Lets keep going then.”

 

There wasn’t any real conversation between them as they proceeded, not even comments from Brainz, even if he really wanted to say something about all the idle screens in the walls. Or the creepy looking bathroom they passed-

 

He could’ve sworn he saw something behind a  shower curtain too, some blobby looking shadow.

 

-but he held his tongue right until the room opened up and he felt his jaw dropping a bit.

“Hooooo _shit_ -”

 

It looked like a gigantic animal skull made of metal and strung with wires and tubes. To finish it, it was suspended above a chasm that lead to the center of the earth as if it ascended straight from it. Of _course_ he pointed at it and felt his nerves getting the best of him as his eyes continued to widen.

“-is _this_ what you’re showing me? Cuz, I kind of _hope_ not… and I’m sure as fuck not climbing in that thing if _that’s_ what you’re thinking-”

 

He shook his head as if Alphys was even going to look: Brainz scoffed incredulously.

“- _that’s_ not fucking happening.”

 

Alphys whipped around and snapped at him.

“I don’t know, _Brainz!_ You tell me! Is this why I brought you here?? What does it even _do?_ Does it have anything to do with fixing your arm that I promised??? **_You, Tell, ME.”_ **

She was hissing through her teeth while her eyes were at full mast, looking bloodshot, she angrily glared at him as he actually had to remember that his arm was still covered in holes… Brainz stood there awkwardly for a moment and then changed his tone completely… humbled almost.

“Ok, what does it do then?”

 

Alphys wasn’t condoning this to go any further, she was keen on answering with high prejudice.  
“ **Nothing.** Related. To **_you!_** Now, **STOP** doing that already! It’s getting **_VERY_** annoying as if I don’t have _enough_ stress already! **_So STOP PLEASE!!!”_**

She panted again, making high pitched sounds of exasperation intertwined with the breaths for air.

 

Brainz said nothing except a very flat acknowledgment as his eyes squinted suspiciously.

“Noted.”

Alphys only grunted frustradedly, her claws clenched and twitched, yet she still managed that composure saving sigh, as she pushed the feeling deep down like the others, Brainz could tell her bottle for it was filled to bursting… one more fill and she was going to pop… he _really_ needed to tone down the candid opinions, especially because he still relied on her to get out of this place… which, he just remembered he needed to do so. His mind was going to focus on when he should bring that up.

 

They carried on… begrudgingly, going around the scary conversation piece and into the next room… a giant walk in freezer: at least that’s what it looked like to Brainz. It _felt_ like one too, while the lab had a drafty feel to it, this room in particular was **cold,** cold enough to make Brainz tighten his collar and huddle his arms together. He could see a line of fridges and freezers with large ventilation units on the ceiling, evidently this room was _‘Necessary’_ even with the limited power supply.

 

“We’re here.”

Alphys tiredly declared the end of their walk and wasted no time on Brainz, she walked up to the nearest fridge and opened the door: the small light inside added to the dim glow from above. Brainz shivered from the cold and rubbed his hands together impatiently.

“Okay… so what’re we here for-”

 

He ignored all of the implications he was getting in his head, deciding not to say anything to set her off despite some really bizarre thoughts he was getting, with this being a laboratory of sorts and this being akin to some cryogenic storage facility… the same kind doctors use to store body parts and organs. He held his tongue.  
“-(Eehnngh) whatt-ayou got there?”

 

Alphys closed the door and turned around to him, clutched in her forearms were a number of sealed glass vials… all of them were glowing RED, a contrast to the completely desaturated world he was now trapped in. Brainz raised his brow.

“Uhh… what am I looking at?”

 

“These are the samples I took.”

 

His brow only rose higher, as he wasn’t quite getting what she was, looking at the gratuitous amount of liquid she had and correlating it with the also gratuitous number of holes in his arm.

“Uhh, I think I got that already… are you going to tell me _‘Why’_ you needed like a pint of my blood?”

 

She shook her head while picking one of the vials and presenting it: a label was hastily marked with pink marker.

 **S02-** **_DT-30/20._ **

“This isn’t blood.”

His eyebrow was at its highest point, as was his confusion and skepticism, Brainz felt himself nodding just a little condescendingly.

“Uhhh, _yeah_ it is: you took that out of me: it’s blood.”

“No no, it’s _not_ blood: **_this_ ** is blood-”

 

She pulled another vial out from her bundle and presented it.

**_S02_ **

It looked exactly the same as the first, there was just less of it in this vial.

 

“ _Fascinating…”_

**Sarcasm.**

 

The small positivity in her face left, she scoffed slightly and put emphasis on holding the vials together: almost dropping the bundled ones and compensating as she shifted herself.

“No, you don’t understand- see, _this_ one is your blood and _this_ one is-”

 

“Also my blood.”  
He just interrupted her, already forgetting about his plan to keep her docile.

 

Alphys made a slight whining noise and tried to deny even more.

“ _No!_ **Listen!** This is again showing that you don’t know what I’m talking about! It’s important- in fact I don’t even know if _you_ know the context of this… just let me-”

 

She was going in and out of mutters and murmurs as Brainz watched on completely unamused. When it seemed she had fully parsed what she wanted to say in her head, she lit up eagerly and nervously: facing him while stuffing his stolen blood in her coat pockets. She was going to need to use her hands for gesturing.

“Ok! So… you probably don’t know about the story about As- I mean, the _king-_ and how-”

 

Alphys was slightly discouraged when Brainz groaned irritatedly at the mention of Asgore, and how he crossed his arms and shook his head discardingly.

“- no no no! Look, I _know_ you don’t like Asgore (And I think it’s because you have the wrong _idea_ but) but this is _really_ important, _look_ : a long time ago he had-”

 

Brainz grabbed her shoulder to make her stop, he then finished her sentence as abruptly as he could.

“- had _two_ homicidal children who were _just_ as megalomaniac as him-”

 

Her heart sank, Brainz had completely thrown her off. She was having difficulty making words come out… her lip quivered.

“Wh-wha-... _what?”_

 

Brainz gave up entirely on getting along with her, and he decided he wasn’t going to play along and let her put a sympathy grabbing spin on something he already knew, Flowey had told him the utter truth and he believed it and only it… in this case: he found himself quite fed up with all the presentation and sugar coating.

 

He nodded aggressively and spoke with an imposing pace.

“-ya, I _got_ that already: there’s no need for you to doll it up to make me feel bad for you: your pal there taught his offspring to murder people; they managed to slink out of this festering pit, off to murder some innocent people…-”

 

Feign and mocking surprise, complete with arms raising up in the air.

“-but _what is this??_ Turns out a couple of overzealous child soldiers are no match for people **_DEFENDING_ ** themselves? So they get themselves killed… so this idiot is blaming _us-”_

 

The first time he ever referred to himself and humanity… only because this is how monsters used to see him before he spread the name for himself.

 

“- and taking it out on every poor bastard who falls down here: **_yeah_ ** I GOT that, what else do you need to tell me about it? You gonna ask me to think about his _feelings?_ Or maybe how the kids were _justified?_ Because you know what? I really don’t want to hear it- in _fact…_ what I really don’t want is to waste my time looking at all the blood you stole from me… while being stuck in this freak house!”

 

Alphys froze, her expression had never looked this mortified. The only reason she let Brainz continue was because she was utterly unable to find words. As if this was the most horrible thing she herself had ever witnessed.

 

Brainz continued his rant without a moment of consideration.

“I don’t have the time to sit here: and _especially_ not to hear more cocked up _bullshit,_ I need to get outta here with- _out_ you making me waste my goddamn time… so, you have anything _else_ you feel the need to add?”

 

Inherently… no, she didn’t: not to _that_ topic. Alphys was completely motionless… save for an eye twitch or two, and her heavy, _slowed_ breathing. She didn’t look at him, or even acknowledge she could hear him… it was as if she’d been put to sleep mode.

 

Brainz felt the silence getting to him, and he snapped to make it stop, directly blaming it on her.

“ _Hey!_ Did you hear a single word I _said?_ **I don’t want your** **BULLSHIT,**  you hear me??”

 

Still nothing.

“ **_Heyy! Helloooo??”_ **

 

The agitation was turning into anxiety, he waved his one hand in front of her face frantically.

“You retarded or something? S’matter with you? **Or is this outside of your programming and I ‘broke’ you…”**

 

Suddenly, she blinked… and then did a little more than that; without acknowledging him still… Alphys’s one arm slowly came out from her pocket, empty. She reached for her glasses… and with the same pace; took them off, folded them, and placed them in her pocket. The arm shook the entire time, she could’ve dropped them at anytime.

 

Then… after taking a long, casual breath… she meticulously turned to face Brainz. The way she just stared at him… like she couldn’t find the proper emotion and just _didn’t…_ that blankness… suddenly the room felt less cold: it was almost sweltering: Brainz could feel sweat running down his sides. When the tense stare went beyond three minutes…

“...What.”

 

“Are you. **_KIDDING_ ** me, right **_now???!!?-”_ **

 

Alphys suddenly roared at him, sending echos of her shrill scream down the corridor. She began pounding her one claw into the other with such force that it sounded like branches being snapped off a tree. Every hit made Brainz blink and his teeth tap together.

“- **ARE. YOU.** **_FUCKING._ ** **_KIDDING  ME RIGHT NOW!!!!-”_ **

 

She then slapped herself in the face and spun around as if looking for something in a panic, but returning her gaze right back to Brainz, who took a couple of steps back when she started screaming.

“- **_YOU’RE FUCKING KIDDING ME, YES YOU ARE!!! YOU…. ARE… FUCKING…. KIDDING MEEEEEEE!”_ **

 

The cork burst from the bottle, and everything inside was jettisoning out in a violent stream of rage and profanities… it was official when she bent over and yelled for as long as she could: throwing her arms behind her for emphasis.

 

Afterwards…

“You don’t know **_anything!!_ ** You know **_SO_ ** little that it’s _actually_ **_AMAZING_ ** how fucking **_ARROGANT_ ** you are!!! How could you be so **_so WRONG_ ** when you know **_SO LITTLE??!_ ** You never fail to _amaze me_!!”

 

Brainz stepped up to rebuke her, not wanting to stand for more of the same thing he heard back at the waterfall. This was literally the same spiel that Undyne threw at him before the altercation ended their relationship. Alphys though wouldn’t let him, and Brainz would just see the full extent of her pent up rage, she stammered: her voice exploded into vocal fireworks.

“You just- _Ye-ye-y-yyoui-_ you just **_keeep_ ** going! And acting like **_we’re_ ** the bad guys!! And then when someone tries to tell you the **_TRUTH,_ ** you do **_THIS!-”_ **

 

She smacked both of her quaking claws into her ears and only shouted _louder_ to further hear herself.

“-you **block EVERYTHING OUT, and** **_THEN…_ ** **you go around** **_BITCHING… .and COMPLAINING… -”_ **

 

Then she threw up her arms, palms beside her face shaking madly. Furiously mimicking a cowarding gesture… obviously criticizing Brainz for his self proclaimed, self victimizing tendencies.

“- **_‘_ ** **OH** **_WOE_ ** **is ME!! …** **_EVERY-BODY HAAATES ME for_ ** **_NO_ ** **_REASON: I may have the MILITARY after me for some reason, but that’s NOTHING compared to the-’ ”_ **

 

Alphys made the most willful air quotes possible and actually thrust herself to put even more emphasis on them.

“- **_’_ ** **_BIG BAD MONSTERS!!”_ **

 

Ouch.

 

Of course she had something to reference, she had only watched every step he made outside of the RUINS… so of course she could take everything he ever said, with the more regrettable things being said when he knew there was no one around to tell him off. It hurt… the attack on him was so precise and fitting that the retort from him was inevitable.

 

Brainz yelled back, the only thing he could think of in the moment.

“ _Yeah?!_ Well- **_this is coming from the monster with an EVIL machine!”_ **

 

She was right back on him, louder and angrier than he could even be. Thrusting an accusing claw at him.

“ **You don’t even know what it** **_DOES,_ ** **_JACK-OFF!!”_ **

 

He couldn’t think of anything else to say, of everything he witnessed down here: this caterwauling lizard wa the most ‘human’ thing yet, from her adaption of his derogatory language to the fact he could see her face was turning red and her teeth were grinding against each other.

 

Alphys was hyperventilating and quivering with each breath… quivering with fury: she briefly put away the yelling and lowered her voice to normal as she purposefully turned around from Brainz, unwilling to face him. Those claws of hers… they clenched with such force, just to open up again and repeat.

“You know… I didn’t blame you…"

 

A sniffle.

“- when you were… noticed, at least when _I_ noticed… I didn’t blame you for what you did to Papyrus… not for what you did to that child-”

 

 _That’s_ what he could feel scratching at his head, when Brainz saw the stripes on the small bear that harassed him, it begged for him to remember… no matter how much he didn’t want to. But Alphys saw what he did, and there was no hiding from it. His world became fragmented stills, glimpses of that horrified face standing before a burning bridge. Piece of shattered innocence glistening and parting in the wind. The cries of destroyed dreams.

 

And even though this monster was telling him now, that she didn’t blame him… it only added to the laden truth that was yelled and thrown at him time and time again, at least a _thousand_ times before he even fell down here.

 

**You. Are. The Bad guy.**

 

His heart was filled by crushing guilt… and it sank to the bottom of him.

 

Alphys… kept going, the focus in her voice was getting weaker as the quivers worsened, almost sounding like sobs… still, she refused to look at him.

“- I didn’t blame you… for breaking into her (Undyne’s) home, not even for setting it on fire-”

 

But then a sole and joyless chuckle came out.

“-that’s _another_ thing you don’t know… but-”

 

Back to the despair.

“- I didn’t blame you… for _Gerson…_ for Napstablook...   _even the_ **soldiers….** And **_even…_ ** for Undyne... -”

 

She must’ve heard him make _some_ surprised noise, some remark done in disbelief, as the rest of him was already falling into doubt and culpability. Alphys had a small bout of aggressiveness to her words, and it was building… she pounced on the unsurity, paired with her accusing stare despite being without her glasses.

“- _surprised?_ Yeah… I don’t _blame_ you for that… of _course_ I hated you for all you did… but I didn’t blame you **_one bit…_ ** and you know what? That’s better than _me…_ let me tell you something Brainz-”

 

She was above murmuring now, and was picking up more steam and anger, she began pointing to herself and making disgusted expressions… contemptible and self scorning gestures.  

“-I _hate_ myself… I hate myself… _so_ much. I look around me at all the mistakes and the suffering _they’ve_ caused… and it just makes me hate myself _more,_ and you know what? I take _full_ blame for everything I’ve done… so _you,_ I should look at you better than _myself…_ but I don’t; and you know **_why?”_ **

 

Was that a rhetorical question? He didn’t know, and was this a small bipedal lizard giving him an ultimatum about hating yourself? Or was Brainz looking into a fucking mirror… it was like Alphys was _quoting_ the things he’d said throughout this nightmare. He was witnessing himself, yet… he couldn’t feel any contempt, for once… he only felt sympathy for her, and it got worse.

 

Her eyes were glistening… glassy, she squinted: making that critical gaze at him, as critical as it was hurting.

“It’s the same reason everyone who _hates_ you, does… and I don’t care **_what_ ** you think anymore… but it’s not because you’re a human, it’s _not_ because you would’ve been the **_last_ ** human…-”

 

There was a long… and insufferable pause, anxiety built up and up: just when the doubt couldn’t get any worse… she hissed dutifully; disdainfully, discardingly, and ultimately… **_rightfully._ ** Her tone changing for this one statement… the most apt… yet candid thing she’d ever said.

“- it’s because you’re an- **_asshole-_ ** ”

 

Brainz couldn’t even fully process what she said before she said it again, with more emphasis, pointing and prodding as she needed to make this point solid above all else.

“-Asshole… **Ass…** **_HOLE…_ ** that’s what you are, an _asshole!_ I could forgive you for _everything_ you’ve ever done… if you weren’t… such an **_asshole_ ** about it all… watching you walk away with that smug and garbage sense of self righteousness… and changing what it means whenever it needs to _suit_ you… and leave us in the dirt… you’re a **_hypocrite…-”_ ** ****

She was now in the forceful tone of reprimanding him, continuing unopposed as Brainz wouldn’t react or say anything else… he was all but helpless to sit here and take it. Alphys listed every long and impactful term she knew that could describe him, counting every one with a claw prodding her other one.

“- you’re a **_liar!,_ ** and **_con-man!,_ ** and a **_manipulator!,_ ** and a **_gas-lighter!,_ ** and a **_COWARD!,_ ** and a **_CHEATER!, and you’re a NARCISSIST, you’re RACIST, and_ ** **_SEXIST?!,_ ** **_and a SOCIOPATH, and a_ ** **_PSYCHOPATH!!!”_ **

 

She absolutely leapt to conclusions, and her tantrum envisioned this horrible human objecting and questioning that last term, she wasn’t going to let him think she was throwing names out at random. She became frantic and more agitated.

“And **DON’T think I don’t what that word REALLY means!! I** **_KNOW_ ** **how you work! That all of your tricks are just an [ACT]! I SAW YOU!! I SAW** **_IT!!_ ** **You can’t hide that fact from** **_me!_ ** **You’re not a lost lamb in the woods, you’re a PREDATOR, a wolf in sheep’s clothing!!”**

 

Nevermind Brainz stopped being forced to agree with everything she said subconsciously, he was completely lost now and found a small break in the horrible feeling stirring inside. He squinted with more sincerity than anguish.

“What?”

 

“ **_You_ ** **_KNOW_ ** **_what I’m talking about! STOP PRETENDING YOU DON’T!!_ ** Acting like you’re _completely_ in the dark on this?! You actually **_DO_ ** know everything! **_DON’T YOU?!_ ** You’re just **_FUCKING_ ** with us!”

 

This was going _way_ off the road now, as Alphys was getting more unstable and red again: she was completely reversing her rant, inverting all of her grievances and now openly accusing of something he couldn’t even begin to claim. So he shouted out.

“What’re you **_talking_ ** about?!”

 

This was the last straw, Alphys reached the absolute peak of her frustration, every last bit of it was going to be used up in a massive flare. She screamed at the top of her theoretical lungs.

“ **THAT** **_YOU._ ** **HAVE.** **_NO_ ** **BUSINESS HERE!!! THAT YOU BELIEVE YOUR LITTLE STORY AND YOU** **_DON’T_ ** **KNOW THE** **_REAL_ ** **ONE!!!....**

 **That you** **_don’t_ ** **know how they GOT to the stupid surface!**

 **That the other child was a HUMAN, just like** **_YOU!!_ **

**Which explains…** **_EVERYTHING_ ** **by the way, the hate, the bloodlust, the ‘PLAN’ you were so quick to judge?! That was** **_ALL,_ ** **from the HUMAN! Not Asriel!!**

 

 **In** **_fact,_ ** **you probably know more than ANYONE, that he didn’t even WANT to go out! He was the most PEACEFUL monster under this damn mountain, JUST like his FATHER!!**

 

 **Would you happen to know, that when he DID absorb that human’s soul and he DID leave, that he didn’t harm a SINGLE lousy human! Not one!!** **_NONE._ ** **YET THEY ATTACKED HIM RELENTLESSLY AND THEY BEAT HIM TO DEATH!!! ALL BECAUSE HE LOOKED** **_‘DIFFERENT’_ ** **WAS THAT ENOUGH TO WARRANT HIS DEATH?!**

 

 **Because if you’re spouting the story YOUR way, then you** **MUST** **think SO!-”** ****

She’d turned away from him again, but after this: she spun back and pounded her one claw into the fridge, the sounds of many glass things rattled inside. He was able to see her face again… the red flushing, the stress, and now… the stream of tears.

 

“- **HE WAS ONLY** **_NINE_ ** **YEARS OLD,** **_BRAINZ!_ ** **JUST A CHILD!! CORRUPTED BY YOUR SICKENING HUMANITY!!**

 

 **IT HAD** **_NOTHING_ ** **TO DO WITH ASGORE, ALL HE EVER DID FOR THAT HUMAN WAS EMBRACE THEM!!**

 

**HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT HE WASN’T COMPLETELY BLINDSIDED BY THIS?**

**HOW DO** **_YOU_ ** **KNOW THAT THE ENTIRE UNDERGROUND DIDN’T GO INTO COMPLETE DESPAIR AFTER THEY DIED!?**

 

 **_HOW_ ** **DO YOU** **_KNOW_ ** **THAT PEOPLE WEREN’T FALLING DOWN LEFT AND RIGHT ON A DAILY BASIS?!**

 

 **HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT AT THE SAME TIME, THE ORIGINAL ROYAL SCIENTIST DIDN’T DISAPPEAR AND LEAVE** ** _ME_** **ALONE TO DEAL WITH THIS?!”**

 

Hyperventilations were becoming enraged sobs, tears trickling to the floor like raindrops.

 

 **_“_ ** **THAT** **_I_ ** **HAD TO CONTINUE HIS WORK, THAT** **_I_ ** **HAD TO DEAL WITH EVERYONE DYING FROM LOSING ALL HOPE! THAT** **_I_ ** **HAD TO GO IN BLIND,** **_I_ ** **HAD TO TRY TO KEEP EVERYONE ALIVE,** **_I_ ** **HAD TO!!”**

 

 **THE** **_ONLY_ ** **THING THAT KEPT THEIR HOPES UP WAS THEIR DESIRE TO GET REVENGE… ASGORE DIDN’T HAVE A CHOICE! IF HE DIDN’T KEEP THIS PLAN OF GETTING YOUR** **_STUPID_ ** **SOULS AND BREAKING THE BARRIER,** **_MORE_ ** **PEOPLE WOULD’VE DIED, SO THAT MEANS** **_I_ ** **HAD TO BE INVOLVED TOO!!-"**

 

All bets were off, Alphys began forcefully prodding her claw into herself, repeating it with every mention of her, her voice rose with every sentence. 

 

 **_I -_** **HAD TO BUILD CONTAINERS FOR THEIR SOULS,**

 **_*I*_ ** **HAD TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE DESPERATELY BEGGING ME TO BRING THEIR FAMILY BACK.**

**_I-eeeeey!_ HAD TO DEAL WITH THE BACKLASH,**

**_I-_ ** **HAD TO DEAL WITH EVERY HUMAN WHO FELL-"**

 

She reached the end of her sanity and began sputtering madly, twitching and throwing her arms all around for an explosive finish to her rant.

 

 **I have to deal with** **_YOU...._ **  


**I have to deal with all the** **_ SOLDIERS, _ **

**all the _DEATH!_**

**_*I*.... *I*... I…”_ **

 

She couldn’t continue… Alphys struggled and stammered to make words, she strained herself so much that all that came out was a long overexerted wheeze.

Then… she fell to the floor and started sobbing loudly, wailing and screaming every one while covering her eyes as the tears soaked into her coat.

“ _I just can’t DO this!!!_

 _I just.. I_ **_can’t!!...”_ **

 

She was reduced to messy sobs that she even choked on. When all of her rage was gone, there was nothing left but a scared monster drowning in her own stress. Her spirit was burnt out, shot… maybe irreparably harmed… if it truly broke: she would’ve fallen down there and then. But something kept her from that, the same obligations that trapped her… kept her alive… like she was stuck on life support… stuck to suffer like this. Doomed to stay her path with no means of escape, nobody would give her the chance to.

 

Of all the cries heard, this was the realest of them all, Brainz would know it as the sound of someone breaking, when the world decided you deserve no mercy: no respite. It finally came to him, looking at this… pitiful thing before him, how she’d sunken so far down… lower than the floor, lower than a grave… He’d been there before… he’d been there so long, he’d been there so often that he ran out of tears. When that point came, there was nothing left to recover… and it was how he ended up like he did.

 

Of everyone he ever met, everything they’d ever done to him… he never wished this pain on _any_ of them. Brainz never wanted anybody to end up like him, and right now… Alphys was a spitting image, brought here by him himself. The very thing he sought never to do… it was horrifying.

 

No… not like this: it was time to stop.

* * *

 

[I remember the pain...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAA8N150vkA)

 

  
She’d lost all of her energy, and the sobs became much weaker… barely audible sniffles and gasps devolving into hiccups… it didn’t matter Brainz was with her anymore, she didn’t care… she just couldn’t afford to anymore. Alphys just whispered to herself, frightened whimpers as she hid from the world.

“Oh god… what am I gonna do?

What am I going to _do…”_

 

Suddenly… there was a presence beside her: she could feel as it shifted alongside the fridge she was sitting against. It slid down to the floor right beside her. Then… she felt something grasping her one shoulder: it forced her to look up from herself… the tears and lack of corrective lenses impaired her vision so much that it looked like Brainz had sat down with her… All she could see was a red and green glow coming from a blurred face.

 

She slowed down her despair enough to take a deeper breath as she fumbled for her glasses, when she finally got them  back on, she could see that he had his one arm wrapped around her shoulders and his eyes had inverted their color again, they were looking into hers with such a distinction from what he’d just done… gazing at her with a solicitously.

 

She just stared, weak with grief.

 

“Alphys…”

 

He spoke… his voice was gentle and genuine… an inteful whisper.

 

“-this is going to look really fucking dumb, but I need you- to forget **_everything_ ** I’ve ever said on you…”

 

He swallowed hard and his focus on her seemed to struggle, more so when her tear reddened eyes widened, making this hurt animal look. She stared at him, almost fearfully… looking even worse as she saw his arm touching her… Brainz made the right assumption for once, he desperately tried to reach through to her.

“-no no, listen to me! Please, I need to you to hear me out! Even after what I just did to you…  just hear me out!”

 

Even he shuddered at how he was condoning himself, this stark change in personality, it left him spiraling… scrambling to pick up all the pieces he’d strewn about.

“I...  I’m trying to-”

 

Suddenly, his arm leapt from her and joined his other one: as they both presented his open palms, all in his damndest to stop the hostility.

“-I’m **_sorry,_** okay?! I know what I’ve done to you… I get that now, and I want to say I’m sorry.”

 

He was getting worked up too… as the realizations were coming to fruition, these consequences and feelings towards them that he’d all but forgotten until now. Brainz was disgusted with himself for letting these happen. Especially because-  
“I know exactly what you’re feeling… I-”

 

His arms threw themselves into him, patting hard against his chest.

“- _Alphys…_ I’ve **_lived_ ** this before! I don’t know why It took me so long to get it, but I’ve been **_exactly_ ** in your shoes before!”

 

Nevermind that she wasn’t wearing any, nevermind that he appeared completely insane with how hard he was trying to take this seriously all of a sudden. She was completely lost and dumbfounded.

 

Brainz jumped to another conclusion and stood up.

“I’m not trying to excuse myself either! I think I’m a piece of shit! I get it now, you- you just keep getting more and more shit… and nobody wants to give you break or even _care…_ and then you got _this_ asshole-”

 

He pointed at himself, and sounded even more nervous and unsure.

“-coming in and making _everything_ worse! **I’ve fucking** **_been_ ** **there before; Alphys, you’re in HELL!!”**

 

He heard himself and shifted completely once more, turning on himself and becoming incredibly self critical as his thoughts became instantly audible.

“ _No,_ you fucking _idiot:_ that’s not what I wanted to say! I’m trying to fucking apologize for being a fucking cunt- _I-”_

 

A guttural and frustrated growl seeped out from him.

“- **_RRRnrnrnrRRGHHH!_ ** Why can’t I ever fucking do anything **_RIGHT!?-”_ ** ****

Unbeknownst to him, a look of sheer amazement directed at him formed once the tears stopped, and it began to grow as he hatefully reprimanded himself, cut off from the world outside of him.

“-I don’t _want_ to be a fucking **_bad guy,_ ** but they never _LET ME!-”_

He fell into more disgruntled cries and furious groans… and he began lightly beating his head against a wall at a slow pace.

“- **_God-Fucking-Dammit!”_ **

 

[I'm just a bad guy...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axrqVfuGHh0)

 

In the midst of this singularity of self hatred, a skittish voice reached out to him.

“Brainz?...”

 

“ **_What!”_ **

He instantly spun around and snapped at her, still lost in his own dejection, but he immediately recoiled and stammered to correct his tone. Shakily putting it out.

“Wh-w-What.”

 

Suddenly, everything seemed to stop for a moment: a lapse in the world. Alphys wasn’t arguing with a maddened, cruelty driven human. She was beginning to make out a look of vulnerability and repressed feelings that had only made it to the surface as sarcastic and spiteful groans.

 

Alphys dried one of her eyes and sniffed, she looked to Brainz.

“What did you mean when you said that?-”

 

He could only look at her, confused and thrown off.

“- _who…_ won't let you?”

 

That’s what she was on about, his cries were heard from someone other than him… and now she wanted to know… if anything: it would be the least he could do. It didn’t matter he’d have to talk about himself, or to whom.

 

He stammered and spluttered, trying to find his resolve, and after some incoherent mumbling and fidgeting, he threw his arms out.

“ **_Everybody!!_ ** **And I’m** **_not_ ** **talking about just down HERE, I *mean*** **_EVERYBODY!!!”_ **

 

In that moment, it was like she didn’t exist again, and he was set off on a torrent of his grievances.

“You wanna know what it **_is?_ ** Why I just took the piss on you for _no_ reason?? It’s _my_ fucking **_TERRIBLE_ ** life! That _everyone_ who gets involved ends up getting **_shit_ ** just for being around me, wether **_I_ ** do it or the fucking military-”

He raised his arm to the ceiling to motion towards the soldiers running rampant above.

“-and it’s _not_ just them! If it **_wasn’t_ ** them it’d be **_SOMEONE_ ** else… that’s how it’s **_always_ ** been!... **_Alphys-”_ ** ****

Out of nowhere it seemed he was still in reality and still acknowledging her… so much that he stopped that part of the rant and went back to the point for her.

“-did you think I ended up like this by **_choice?_ ** That I **_wanted_ ** to become an apathetic **_asshole_ ** like this?”

 

He actually _waited_ for her to answer him, this was truly abnormal… he wanted to know what _she_ wanted of him… no more assumptions.

 

What she did was show her true reception of this… her face was was still streaked with drying tears, and displaying fear.

“I… don’t _know…_ I’m _lost_ with you… it’s why you confuse me so much… but It’s not what you wanted… that I want to know… I just want to know _why_ you’re like this… why you’re _here…_ how did you end up here?”

 

He could hear a sweet, caring voice echoing inside him… something so familiar it made his head spin.

**_What has the world above done to you?_ **

 

Only here… only now, did he not feel the urge to hide it anymore… perhaps something he felt he should’ve done in the first place so long ago… it wasn’t going to help _him_ anymore… but at least he could help _someone_ else.

 

His voice dropped to a deadpanned rasp… no emotion would do this any justice. This was _his_ lament, the thing he had to live with for the rest of his life. From the moment he opened his eyes every day, to when he passed out on the floor.

 

Brainz nodded at Alphys agreeingly… he held up a hand just to ask for a moment to gather himself… he sighed dolefully and began.

“... I got fucked over **_so_ ** hard…-”

 

He turned to her lifelessly, his arms dangling at his sides… his expression, frank.

“- So… I used to be a person y’know,... _.I’m serious!_ , I really *was*,once upon a time. I was _sane..._ I had… a job… a _house-.”_

He had a small deviation, remembering something that needed to be cleared up.

“- _yeah,_ so how I’m trying to get out of here so badly?  I don’t actually _have_ anything to come home to, I don’t **_have_ ** a home, or _‘family’_ everyone related to me is pretty much gone, when I die, I’m taking our bloodline with me.

 

I don’t have **_anything…_ ** I get out of here and it’d just be back to hiding in sewers and garbage… and running for my life everyday… I have _nothing…_ just thought you’d want to hear that.”

 

He shook his head subtly, while Alphys would let that sink in. Brainz really didn’t _have_ to tell her that, in fact: it was more for _himself…_ that he needed to admit it out loud, because it was the truth.

“Anyway… I used to have a life… _until…-”_

 

He sniffed himself and his head shook and nodded, twitching as he tried to make himself speak again.. When he did: his voice went up an octave… and it quivered… despite how weak it became.

“-I got _fucked_ over!... someone… fucked me- and he fucked me over **_so_** hard-”

 

His voice rose back and he turned to Alphys with a candid tone.

“- you know what I’m saying? Have you ever been fucked over hardcore from someone?...-”

 

He rolled his eyes at himself.

“- _besides_ me-”

 

Alphys… still meek and confused, nodded ever so slightly at him, Brainz’s brows hopped for a moment.

“-huh, another thing in common I guess… sucks- _anyway…_ I got fucked over so hard, that it’s pretty much the main reason my life is like this… and that was _twenty._ Fucking. Years ago! Believe it or not… **_actually…_ ** -”

Then _another_ deviation… he huffed amusedly and made himself grin ever so slightly, turning more directly to her.

“- hold up a sec, I _thiiink…-”_

 

Brainz rolled his sleeve up again: but not to note or complain about the dried blots of blood on his arm… but for something more permanent.

**(03[-AR-7:BR-26]-19)**

 

He tried to wipe some of the hardened grime away to make the markings more clear, he then pointed to the numbers encasing the brackets… then to Alphys, shaking his finger.

“-do you know what day it is? Actually, do you even keep track of days? Like what do you guys do- it’s related to this-”

 

“It’s… _March 17…_ why?”

 

“-Oh, so you do: nice…-”

 

A moment of pause as he squinted and whispered a slight bit of awe and some less than coherent mumbling to himself.

“-wow, _really?_ (Fell on the fourteenth, been three days already? Shit) _Any-_ way... -”

 

Back to the tattoo.

“- See this? **_Three-Nineteen,_ ** March nineteenth… so, two days from now? It’ll actually be the _twentieth_ anniversary of when my life got fucked over believe it or not-”

Her eyes widened at the analysis of the strange code on his arm… Alphys had been pondering on it for longer than Brainz knew… and now he was solving it for her.

“Really? You… _commemorated_ that?”

 

Brainz nodded profoundly.

“- _yes_ I **did-”** ****

He even sounded almost _prideful_ of the fact, but soon calmed down to his depression… losing his steam as the quickly made smile faded.

“- March _nineteen…_ **_nineteen ninety-seven  *(3/19/1997)*_ ** and we’re in, **_twenty seventeen (2017)_ ** ... yeah… _twenty_ years ago, how about that… that this shit happens near the anniversary my life was ruined-”

 

He chuckled… he _made_ himself chuckle, just so it wouldn’t hurt so much. It was completely without humor.

“-ahhh _gee.”_

Of all things, Alphys wanted to ask him exactly _what_ happened to him… but she didn’t want to pry there, especially with how Brainz was putting on that faux grin to hide it… so she went for something smaller.

“What does _that_ mean then?”

**[ -BR-26] ]**

 

Brainz got out of his own headspace again and pointed at the bracketed code.

“That? That’s just how old I was when it happened **BR-** ‘Brainz’… I was twenty-six years old, and I’m forty-six now: **twenty years later.** Time flies when you’re wallowing in your own despair, huh?”

 

Alphys looked to the other part of the marking… she almost had to stifle a gasp… and she didn’t even fully want to ask the next question… it just slipped out.

“(Wait) Then… what does _that_ one… mean? Is it, the same as… (oh my).”

 

**[ AR-7] - ]**

 

Brainz took a look at his arm and it seemed to have stalled him.

“ _Humn?_ Oh! … _Ooh…._ Uhhm-”

 

He stared at it, sustaining his groan of doubt… Alphys cringed and took a sharp breath, she covered her mouth too.

 

Brainz finished up his brief pause and made another deep sniff to clear his sinuses. He made an incongruous jump in tone and hit his forehead with his palm.

“- oh for _fucks_ sake, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to hijack the conversation, this is about me being a daft cunt to _you,_ forgive me there: lemme get back to the point.”

 

Alphys just wouldn’t stop staring at him with her mouth covered, and her eyes began to look glassy again, she just shook her head at him: not agreeing with his self dismissiveness at all, and from behind her claws: a frail voice creeped out.

“I’m so sorry…”

 

Unfortunately, it was just below audible for Brainz’s tinnitus struck ears, he brashly asked about it, holding his hand to his one ear.

“ _H’what?”_  

 

Alphys only shook her head again… showing her quivering lips, as the one claw went to clean her glasses again.

“I am… _terribly_ sorry- I had _no_ idea… I wouldn’t-”

 

“It’s **_fine!_ ** Don’t worry about it! This is not about my shitty life! It’s me trying to apologize for being such a cunt to you! Now if you’d **_please,_ ** I’d like to get this over with so I don’t have to waste _ANY_ more of your time, **_okay?!”_ **

 

Alphys was almost _expecting_ him to get defensive like that, suddenly, his outbursts and reluctances to talk, seemed so much less offensive and more… _understandable._ She held a silence and dropped her questioning _immediately._ She already put what she knew together about him to make the speculation on his tattoo… the fact he was _alone…_ and claimed _often_ he hadn’t anything to live for. Well- she accepted on the spot that she may never find out what happened to him… and dropped the matter out of respect,

 

Brainz calmed himself with some deep breaths, when he was ready to talk again, he did. He felt balloons growing under his skull again, and a hand clenched tightly on his nose bridge as he squinted.

“Anyway… my life was completely ruined on that day, because I was too _trusting…_ I let people in to where I was vulnerable… and they took advantage of me: I was used until I was all _spent up…_ then, they threw me out in the open for the dogs to rip me to pieces-”

 

He made another humorless sound, a couple of snorts coming from his nose, it was anyone’s game in deciding if he could’ve been laughing or crying about it. Brainz shook his head and made a disapproving **_-tch-_ ** with his mouth… ending with a sigh.

“-somehow… I survived, quite a bit worse for the wear- it turned out though, having your life ruined due to trusting people turns you into a _bad guy_ in the eyes of… (I dunno): everyone you ever knew, the **_police…,_ ** **the** **_news…_ ** you… you just **_stop_ ** being a person- and you’re nothing but a deathwish.”

 

He couldn’t even perceive the look of sympathy in Alphys, it was full blown… she almost looked like she wanted to cry again… Brainz only thought about how he was _still_ talking about himself, and how he had a habit of winning people over unintentionally… it had happened like… _three_ times down here already. He didn’t notice her, and kept going… trying to steer the conversation back. Exposing his lifelong exasperation, it was bitter and exhausted.

“I am just- _so_ tired, **_SO so tired_ ** of being _MANIPULATED-_ **_all_ ** the damn time… even after that night, It’s like I never learned- because the very few people I _could_ meet- would just screw me over all the same… and I’d be completely blindsided-”

 

He sounded upset, noted by his body language too.

“-because I _wanted_ to trust people! I **_wanted_ ** someone to have my back, I always did _theirs…_ but **_every time…_ ** they’d do with me until I wasn’t useful anymore… and then hit me where it _hurt,_ because I **_LET_ ** them…. **_Eventually,_ ** I just gave up: I didn’t want to get hurt anymore, I was tired of getting my hopes up and falling… everytime I did, I just went higher and higher and the fall would hurt me more and more- I told myself after the last one, ‘ **_Never again, I don’t need ANYBODY- and they certainly don’t need me… if anybody ever shows interest in me, they’re just trying to fuck me.’ .”_ **

 

Then he made his one single, dead panned chuckle, and then grinned... :  out of habit, out of experience, out of spite… never willing to show how much it hurt.

“Here’s where it’s ‘fun’ _every time_ I made that call… every time I tried to preserve myself and shunned someone… distrusted them… or left them in the dark- it turned out they were **legitimate,** that not only did I deprive myself of them… but I did _them_ a disservice… I’d look like a huge prick in the process… they’d go off unhappy and confused; spouting I attacked them when they only tried to help me… like a shark or something red eyed and vicious… not even a _fucking_ person.”

 

He finally turned to Alphys, not noting her wet eyes and how she was utterly gripped. Brainz asked her something out of true spite for himself.

“Now what does _that_ make you think of?”

 

He looked right at her and shrugged dolefully.

“I really _am_ sorry… could I ever ask you understand what that’s like? Being hit and kicked when I’m down every chance life has for me? And when I finally defend myself… I’m just hurting ‘innocent’ people… it’s always ‘Them’ or me… and somehow… it always amounts to me being the bad guy.”

 

He thought of everything he’d lived through down here, every encounter and the misery they brought upon everyone…  it was always **Him… or them.**  And every single one ended with **‘Him’** walking away… and **‘Them’** to suffer. From leaving Toriel behind for the soldiers… to what he did to Undyne… as unjust as it sounded… Brainz couldn’t convince himself that he hated her, not when he agreed with her 100%... in the end, it was **Him… or Her…** and of course it ended with him.

 

He kept that in mind and splayed his arms at his sides to Alphys… as upfront and genuine as a man like him could ever be, nothing to coax or sugarcoat.

“I’m not even trying to excuse what I’ve done…but mind you this, it was destined to happen when I fell down here… because that’s all I am… it’s all I’m **_allowed_ ** to be: the bad guy. Nothing I do, nobody I talk to will change that… but with that: I just want to tell you that of everything that happened, I didn’t want **none** of it-”

 

Brainz felt an urge to approach her again at his slowed pace, he walked up and watched as her eyes were anxiously trained on a hand of his extending for her, she didn’t react above that. He found himself grasping a shoulder again, gently… the only method he could show his genuinity without it being a ‘bid’ or ‘gambit’ he certainly didn’t have the emotional capacity for them anyway… he was sore all over. Suddenly, it was hard to speak up from whispering.

“- not just for me, for _everyone…_ for the time it took me to do these things to everyone… I’d spend four times as long after the fact, just wishing… wishing that I didn’t lose control of myself… that I just… didn’t even bother to get that far and quit before anyone got hurt… I’d wish all that… that I could take it back…-”

 

He shook his head ever so slowly, keeping his eyes on hers. The whisper became the softest it could without being completely silent.

“-but I _can’t…_ because I’m just the bad guy….”

With that… he was done with what he had to say, at least he was done subjecting himself to feel the way he did… looking into her eyes and seeing _something_ behind them. It reminded him too much of Toriel… he remembered he needed to get to her too… and so; he shifted in tone with an underlying desire to get this over with.

 

Brainz forced a quiet chuckle from himself, it was devoid of humor like usual, so was his awkward grin he tried to put on… although at this point; with _context…_ that grin of his looked less creepy and uncanny, and more _lame…_ than anything.

“And I’m not even _good_ at it!”

 

He tried to lighten the mood up, more unconvincing chuckles… even patting her shoulder reassuringly, at best: she made an obligated single snicker that was more nervous than anything. Ultimately, she made herself move away from the fridge and him.

 

She turned her back and began pacing: the remnants of her breakdown still quivered in her voice… she was unsure and feeble.

“I don’t understand now-no-”

 

She made sure to turn around and specify something important.

“-I _do_ understand how you feel… I think I got that- but…-”

 

She squinted and presented the real question in a very grave and concerned manner. Staring down at the hunched man in pink before her.

“- what does this have to do with _us?”_

 

He couldn’t follow, and the confusion became mutual.

“What do you mean? It has _everything_ to do with the past couple of days here, I’m like a cancer… you can’t keep me here and-”

 

This was handled as an assumption, but Alphys felt much better suited to deal with now that she had her release and it seemed this man was actually being compliant now. She was returning to some kind of normalcy, her habitually analytical tone. Always trying to figure something. An open claw was raised to Brainz.

“ **No** … I’m not talking about everything recent: I’m talking about _you…”_

 

He just turned his palms up to the ceiling and shook his head.

“I just _told_ you about me…”

 

She shook _her_ head, more disagreeing than bewildered.

“No… there’s still something missing.”

He really didn’t want to upset her again, but he could feel himself starting to become the same kind of agitated that started this tension, Brainz continued his confused body language.

“Like _what?_ I told you everything... -”

A quick glance to the corner of his vision and back.

“-everything that actually _applies_ to you at least.”

 

“No-”  
Now, it was a sternly said, and openly disagreeing with him...  Alphys stuttered for a moment, but kept her newfound cool.

“- I-i, don’t think you did… no offense.”

 

It didn’t flat out aggravate him… _yet,_ Brainz was just lost, scrambling at his own words. He had to rephrase the last thing to himself just to be sure he didn’t miss anything.

“(I don’t think I did, what else could I-) What’re you _talking_ about?”

 

And again he shrugged quite willfully, hands still facing the ceiling.

 

“Brainz, please… I want you to be able to _trust_ me, but for that I need _you_ to trust _me…-”_

 

With a swift motion, Alphys placed a claw on her chest and stood up straight, at least not as hunched over as she typically was. She was quite wholehearted to what she was about to insinuate.

“-I _promise,_ I’m not going to do _anything_ to harm you… I know how it feels to be manipulated and I would never wish that on another person-”

And she made sure to motion to him specifically, and nod.

“- _yes,_ a **person,**  you _are_ a person to me. With your own hopes and dreams, I don’t want to think anything but that of you… and I want to **_help_ ** you, but I can’t do that until I _know-”_

 

She scampered over to him, and Brainz let her grasp one of his battered hands… he didn’t swipe it away or push _her_ away, despite his growing frustration. She looked up to him, the light glistened through her thick lenses… because her eyes had a sparkle in them.

“- you can _trust_ me, and we’ll work it out _together…_ ok?”

 

She let his hand go and stepped back to give him space, to respect his imminent need to think about this. Truthfully, Brainz held a silence for about a minute… with his eyes fidgeting as he thought. Alphys began to light up when Brainz exhaled and began nodding agreeingly to himself. When he finally looked up to her, she cupped her hands anxiously.

“Yes?”

 

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”  
His strait faced comment caused Alphys’s ironic and instantly made hopes for him; to implode, she uttered a frustrated kind of growl to herself and sunk back to her hunch… sighing in the most disappointed of ways. She completely switched her attitude with him, urgent and upset.

“Brainz, _why_ are you still trying to _hide_ from me? I already know! I want to hear _your_ perspective of it so I can under- **_stand_ ** you!”

He was getting agitated enough to see this as a blatant accusation against him, but he was still too confused and repeated the gesture of his only exacerbated as he threw his arms in front of him, shrugging with a twitch.

“Perspective of **_what??_ ** You already know, **_what???_ ** What’re you **_TALKING_ ** about???”

 

Alphys was suspended in _some_ kind of disbelief about him, so much that she was hard on her assumption that Brainz was still lying to her, despite everything they’d just worked through. At this point, it seemed they were only going to escalate each other again.

 

“That you so called had _nothing_ to do with here before you fell! That this was _‘unintentional’!_ That you keep telling everyone that!”

 

Brainz felt air escaping from him, buzzing through his lips, his own disbelief. He just spluttered at an absolute loss-

“ **_What??!”_ **

 

For any retort.

 

Alphys was _mad_ again.

“ _Stop_ playing dumb! You can’t _do_ this with me! It’s as obvious as the mark on your back!”

 

“ **_What??”_ **

Another confused single worded question, this one was more confused than outraged.

 

Alphys still took it as some desperate attempt to cover himself and only pushed harder, pointing at him and curving her claw to gesture to his actual back.

“I _saw_ that, you can’t pretend it doesn’t exist! I _saw_ it during your fight with _her! (_ Undyne)”

 

“Saw **_-_ ** **_WHAT-”_ **

 

He was _much_ less agitated, now becoming incredibly anxious: not only was he being persecuted unfairly, but it was for something he had _no_ idea about, _and_ was apparently as plain as a mark flat on his back.

 

Alphys snapped, throwing her arms in an exasperated manner.

“Your **_BACK!_ ** **The MARKING!** How can you _not_ be involved when THAT’s there?!”

 

Brainz started turning and struggling to look at his own backside, he hastily fidgeted with his inventory to get it off.

“ **_What???_ **   **_What’s_ ** * on my back???? **_...What!_ ** What is it??-”

 

He began to panic, emitting admittedly frightened noises as he threw off the jacket upon failing to find this damned marking he was apparently responsible.

“- where- I don’t know what you’re- my **_back???_ ** Like my **_skin?????_ ** What- what are you- lemme just-”

The ratty sweater was removed from him, the drafty air clung to his now bare skin, he still couldn’t turn his neck or arch his back enough to see for himself, he still continued to stutter and stammer.

` “-what is it?? I can’t see- what’s wrong with my back?? I can’t-”

 

He reached both of his arms behind him, hands urgently shuffling up and down this rough and coarse surface. As they ran over the sea of uneven patches of skin, Brainz began a bid to calm the situation down as he tried to slow his breaths.

“The scars? Are you talking about all the _scars?_ That’s what you _mean?_ Oh Alphys… you… you’re scaring me for a bit: but… I’ve had these for a _long_ time, they got _nothing_ to do with anything I sus-”

 

She yelled out, almost sounding like a complaint.

“ _Nooo!_ Not those! I’m **_talking_ ** about-”

 

She cringed with frustration… then suddenly exhaled it out and grabbed one of Brainz’s hands… and began quickly walking with it: heading back down the hallway with him helpless to follow.

“- just _come-_ I see I have to _do_ this then…”

He expressed his rather surprised disfavor of this abrupt action, but did nothing to stand up to it.

“Wait wait! What’re you- where are we- at _least_ let me put my **stuff!** I- _damn!”_

 

He managed to scoop all of his shedded garments and sling the duffel bag over his exposed and questioned back-

 

The cold fabric didn’t feel too good scraping against it.

 

-and let himself be in a sense ‘dragged’ along the way. Alphys brought him back the way they came and to another pass of the refugee room. It was already going to be awkward even if he _did_ have a shirt on… Brainz couldn’t spend too much time noticing all the eyes looking at him because before he knew it: Alphys brought him into a brand new room just off of the main one.

 

One one side was a long, stainless steel working table of sorts… it was littered with clumps of dirt and a disarrayed group of flower pots. Most of them were either empty or overturned, spilling their contents… and a very select few actually had flowers occupying them… _dead_ flowers.

 

Other than that… there was only a wall facing this compost smelling graveyard, a wall laden with blackened screens… and _mirrors_ that reached all the way from the floor to the ceiling: like a funhouse except no filter to distort reality.

 

Alphys suddenly spoke again, whipping her words and throwing a claw out towards the reflective surfaces facing them.

“ _THIS,_ explain: **_this-”_ **

 

Brainz was all but reluctant to even look, but his damnable curiosity and Alphys’s brash insistence got the better of him…

 

He looked into the mirror… and the red eyed monster… failed to show up, the terrible beast he had seen before with its rugged and filthy exterior, was nowhere to be found. What was staring him down, was a pathetic looking human without a shirt holding the hand of a vaguely yellow lizard. The human had only one red eye.

 

Then… this apparition slowly turned around, exposing its backside to the world beyond the glass, only then… did the thing Alphys was on about come into view for everybody to see.

“- **_how_ ** can you not be involved at all if you have **_THIS_ ** on your back?”

 

Brainz lost all momentum he had… everything he was going to say was lost; all made invalid by what he saw. Everything had stopped, he was left to stare feebly at himself… and the only thing that would leave his lips… was a statement, with every bit of composure **_gouged_ ** from it.

“ _What…_ the- **_ff-uck???......”_ **

 

Taking more than half of his back, taking any kind of prominence that could exist, consisting entirely out of _pink-ened_ and misshapen skin, his scars…

 

The winged circle… atop a trio of inverted triangles.

 

It was a delta rune, made of burn scars.

 **35:42:23**  
  
**35:42:22**

**35:42:21**

**...**

 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	12. Existential Prejudice. Misconceptions and unjust lies.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ᵀᴴᴱ ᶜᴿᴼᴼᴷ ᵂᴱᴺᵀ up to the ᵀᴴᴱ ᴹᴼᵁᴺᵀᴬᴵᴺ  
> ᵀᴴᴱ ᶜᴿᴼᴼᴷ ᶠᴱᴸᴸ ᴵᴺᵀᴼ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴹᴼᵁᴺᵀᴬᴵᴺ  
> ᵀᴴᴱ ᴹᴬᴺ ᴰᴱᴸᵛᴱᴰ ᴵᴺᵀᴼ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴹᴼᵁᴺᵀᴬᴵᴺ
> 
> ᵀᴼ ᵀᴿᵞ ᵀᴼ ᴳᴱᵀ ᴬᵂᴬᵞ  
> ᵀᴼ ᵀᴿᵞ ᵀᴼ ᴿᵁᴺ ᴬᵂᴬᵞ
> 
> ᵀᴴᴱ ᴼᵀᴴᴱᴿ ˢᴵᴰᴱ ᴼᶠ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴹᴼᵁᴺᵀᴬᴵᴺ,   
> ᵀᴴᴱ ᴼᵀᴴᴱᴿ ˢᴵᴰᴱ ᴼᶠ ᵀᴴᴱ ˢᵀᴼᴿᵞ  
> ᵀᴴᴱ ᴼᵀᴴᴱᴿ ˢᴵᴰᴱ ᴼᶠ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴸᴵᴱˢ
> 
> ᵂᴬˢ ᴬᴸᴸ ᵀᴴᴬᵀ ᴴᴱ ᶜᴼᵁᴸᴰ ˢᴱᴱ  
> ᵂᴬˢ ᴬᴸᴸ ᵀᴴᴬᵀ ᴴᴱ ᶜᴼᵁᴸᴰ ᴰᴼ  
> ᵀᴴᴬᵀ'ˢ ᴬᴸᴸ ᵀᴴᴱᵞ'ᴰ ᴸᴱᵀ ᴴᴵᴹ ᴰᴼ
> 
> ɪᴛ's sᴏ ᴄᴏʟᴅ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ʜᴇʀᴇ...

[It's been with you the entire time...](https://youtu.be/N4g_RV2gPG0)

“What the fuck _is_ this??...”

He asked this from himself many times… many times as he recognized the symbol painted onto his back. The last attempt at the question… would be a quiet, singsongy rasp.

_“♪_ What the _fuuck_ is _thi-is??𝅘𝅥𝅮….”_

 

Brainz hesitantly ran his hands over the contours of the marking, tracing it as he felt the smoothened scar tissue that rose from his skin. He made a mindless impulse to try rubbing it away… but that was stopped; there was no getting rid of it. This ugly, pink rendition of the 'Prophetic bullshit' he was so quick to judge was **_stuck_ ** to him, and it would stay like that for the rest of his life. But there was more….

 

An actual tattoo.

 

**_‘F𝐈𝐋𝐄-𝟑𝟏𝟑’_ **

This one was done in ink and neatly printed on his right shoulder-blade, looking like it’d been stenciled in, like he’d wanted it to be profound… if he could actually remember it. He had just as much recollection of it as the delta rune. No idea what it meant, when he got it, why…, or if it had anything to do with the monster marking. It only made the apprehension worsen.

 

“So... -”

Alphys crossed her arms, and reminded Brainz she was still there.

“-what do you have to say about _this?”_

 

Somehow, Brainz was able to look away from the mirror, no matter how quiet everything in his head went. Brainz turned away and towards her very vacuously. He hadn’t any expressions, at least nothing that portrayed him correctly. He would be content to look down at her with that very vacant look on his face and that sluggish posture of his. A breeze could’ve knocked him down he was so out of it.

 

He just stared at her- it wasn’t even _that,_ the way his eyes were wide open like that; he was staring at everything, yet seeing nothing. He didn’t even answer her after this ensued for a good part of a minute… instead, he was drawn back to the mirror: back to that mystifying rune stuck to him.

 

Alphys was only slightly taken off by him, and sought his attention again: still pining for the explanation she demanded out from him.

“Brainz.”

She was met with that blank gaze again. She ignored the uneasiness this time and rephrased herself before he’d turn back. Alphys retained that same spite from before: only keeping her voice at the proximity of others just beyond this hall of mirrors and dead plants.

“ _So_ _…_ are you going to try to get out of _this?”_

 

Brainz didn’t turn away from her, he didn’t make such a motion… but he did stare with his eyes open like that, twitching and jumping from her skeptical crossed arms to the pale and frightened looking thing in the mirror. He was just so… _nonplussed,_ so much he just-

“I don’t know!”

-sounded off his bewilderment without raising his voice… he too, kept it low… but his tone, begged that he wanted to scream.

 

Brainz took one more full glance at the symbol and shook his head quickly… he sounded so listless though, his words drifting off.

“I don’t… _know…_ th-this is new…”

Alphys only took his words. Not even his face value… she just kept going, dedicated to slamming his little scheme of ignorance to the ground… so she closed her eyes and spoke very indignantly.

“ _Well-_ for _your-”_

 

Spiteful air quotes.

“- **_‘Information’,_ ** _That_ is the ‘Delta Rune’ or for you; The very symbol denoting our _existence_ … it’s older than written history, we still don’t know what it truly-”

 

Brainz lurched in frustration, his teeth were pressed together.

“I **_know_ ** what it is!”

 

Alphys’s eyes only opened like she expected to hear this,

“I bet you do at this point… but what **_I_ ** want to know is: Why is it tattooed on your **_back??_ ** ”

  


Almost like an automated response… completely unheeding to the sharp, accusative tone from her. Brainz addressed the one error she made, quite stony.

“It’s not a tattoo…”

 

“What?”

 

Brainz temporarily gave up on trying to figure this, instead… focusing on something that didn’t go against his reality… he wasn’t even trying to prove his case to Alphys anymore, he forgot that he was. Right now, the only thing in the world that he could be right about, was this. He managed to control his unfocused gaze and look directly at her.

“The… _rune_  on me _…_ it’s not a tattoo, it’s scar tissue.”

“Okay?, what’s the difference?”  
It was obvious the severity and impact of this horrible development were only recognized by the man who just discovered he was wearing the rune that represented every sin against logic and reality in the world.

 

This couldn’t have ended well… and it was just as much that Brainz would be explaining it to Alphys, that he would be telling himself that this thing existed… a power play: forcing **_both_ ** of them to come to terms with it. No matter how it went, Alphys was going to take it better than he was… the initial shock was close to wearing off. Brainz sounded grave from getgo, every word coming out of his mouth had a short delay, a hesitation to allow himself to come up with a contradiction that never happened.

“This is all burned into me… like someone did me with a hot iron- like a _cow…_ it’s _burn_ tissue.”

 

Brainz went back to goggling at his back in the mirror, muttering bits of words and noises of silent disbelief.

_(I can’t even feel it!...  how long has this been ON me???)_

 

Alphys however,

“What- _ever_ it is, I want to know why it’s _there_ , and why _you’re_ here, because I’m starting to think they’re related.”

 

Her voice was dead bitter and laden with accusation, subjectively inconsiderate: considering Brainz was on the pickup of an anxiety attack. _However…_ this distrusting of hers was going to delay it, maybe even prevent it all together… keeping the space open for something worse as Brainz turned to her, not a single iota wiser about the situation at hand. He didn’t like the tone she was using just a little more than the thing stuck to his back.

“What-uh-you insinuating at?”

 

She shrugged with derision and played her voice up and down, making her mockery blatantly obvious, trying to shame him for thinking she’d be so oblivious.

“ _Me?_ Ohhhhh…  I don’t know… j-just the fact you knew how to get here, and how you can _somehow_ read ancient vernacular exclusive to monsters."

Brainz’s face dropped to something disgusted and equally full of contempt, he just muttered, getting riled up.

“Awh no… you are **_not-_ ** I don’t need this shit right n-”

 

Alphys did not cease, not until it was recognized as a full blown assumption.

“Or how _you_ had peh-pertinent knowledge of what you needed to do to leave here from the get-go, from slaying Asgore, to venturing to the only exit in this damn place.”

“ **What.** Are you saying?!”

Oh he knew already, Brainz knew damn well what she was getting at, he just wanted to see her say it to his face, evidence before whatever would ensue.

 

Alphys took him up to his challenge, despite how scared she actually was of pissing him off again… everyone had their limits and she’d just broken through hers: she really couldn’t care at this point. So she gestured to the fleshy delta rune in the mirror,

“I’m _saying_ that you were involved with us _before_ you fell, that you’re not the chronically hapless human you’re letting off to be: and the fact you’re _wearing_ our heritage kind of proves it.”

 

It still took him by surprise… he twitched so violently it was a _convulsion._ Brainz scrambled for what to reply with. It built up and up as he couldn’t come to words… and what finally came out… started nonchalant with a casual breath.

“Well, I don’t mean to demean you or anything but…-”

 

He suddenly jumped and slammed his feet down-

“-are you **_fucking_ ** **RETARDED?!’**

**-** straightening himself to face her fully, and properly look down upon her, the precaution of being overheard by the others in the next room had gone silent, unlike Brainz.

 

The feeling of persecution returned with a vengeance, and with it: Brainz couldn’t stand to be without cover on his torso anymore: he promptly and angrily put his shirt back on, followed by the jacket: he continued his outrage as he buttoned up the coat.

“You think I did all this… on _purpose???_ That this was _planned??_ As in: I actually fucking _wanted_ to fall down into this shithole with all you motherfuckers??”

 

Alphys gave him no quarter, no sign she was intimidated… mind the terrible shuddering, she forced herself to stand up to him.

“Planned? I’m not too certain, you yourself actually seem to be _remorseful_ at times… I don’t think you intended on **_genocide,_** and you’re _far_ too selfish to care about your ‘humanity’ for this to be an act of sabotage... no, but what **_I_** think is that you couldn’t outrun your problems on the surface anymore… so you went to the _only_ place that could take them off of you. Where your enemies would be _too_ preoccupied on **_us_** to even care about you on the surface… giving you the perfect cover to **get out,** and more importantly, **get** ** _away-”_**

 

She straightened her glasses, and tried to look him in the eyes… but the fury behind them was too much. Alphys had to shut her eyes and buckle her knees together, yet she still finished her sentence.

“-the g-gre-greatest escape from ‘S-supect Omega'… you were just waiting for the perfect opp-ritunity to throw us under the b-bus.”

 

Brainz's fists shook at his sides: trembling with fury, one of them turned into a point: quick to thrust at this travesty.

“Yeah?! You thought **_WRONG!!_ ** It’s bad enough I have to deal with all this shit, but now… you’re trying to put me in the center of some cock-shit **_conspiracy theory!?!"_ **

 

He scoffed at her as loud as he could, his hand went back to his side and he just shook his head derisively… then he flipped up his middle fingers.

“Y’know-what, _fuck_ you!! Fuck _all_ of you!!”

Brainz took a moment to look away, holding his hands to his head… which felt like exploding: he groaned miserably… when it concluded: he stamped right up to her, set out to set _her_ straight. Pacing his words aggressively, and prodding at Alphys.

“You want your _truth_ so fucking bad out of me?? If I knew all you **_fuckheads_ ** lived down here… if I knew you **_freaks_ ** even **EXISTED,** I would’ve _never_ come to Ebott County and stayed the _fuck_ away!

These passed three days have been synonymous with the _WORST_ experiences I’ve ever had in my _entire_ LIFE!-”

 

He began to shake too, his voice began cracking and failing… making this unpleasant grating tone as he lost his composure.

 

“- I’ve been having fucking **_EPISODES,_ ** ones I haven’t had in years, **_YEARS!!!_ ** I’ve been having ones that I don’t even fucking _remember!!_ You’ve managed to make me relive _so_ many traumas, it’s like I’m reliving my _childhood!!_ I’ve been in constant pain from going cold turkey off painkillers… and I’ve had my understanding of reality **_FUCKED,_ ** **SO** many times, I don’t know what’s _real_ anymore!”

 

A nervous and shuddery laugh crept out of him, he covered his face and giggled uncontrollably, to go with his claims of being unstable- he couldn’t control it. It was like a whimpering animal at times. He struggled to fight through the shudders and chuckles.

“You think- you think I’d _n-n--nn-neh-Knowingly,_ ***put*** myself _through_ all this?? _As_ s-some kind of **_sh-cheme,_ ** to get **_AWAY?!."_ **

 

He erupted into convulsions, howling and disrespectful sounding guffaws. He clapped as hard as he could, each one sounding like firecrackers bursting in his palms.

 

Alphys tried to shout, to demand his attention, to demand this harrowing display stop: for the good of everyone behind… the concerned and curious faces peeking from behind, witnessing the breakdown of sanity before them… but nothing would help what she started. Suddenly, Brainz focused on her and with a decisive motion: he pushed her with force… she slid three feet and fell to the ground, glasses clattering with her… a procession of gasps came from behind.

 

He stood right over her, and bore down to her as she lay on the floor: shaken and dazed… he was still laughing up a storm.

“Let me tell _YOU_ something, I **_KNOW_ ** you _don’t_ know! Everything leading up to this _pisshole_ mountain-volcano, **_whatever the FUCK it is:_ ** has been _one_ fuckup after another! Where _all_ this, **_ALL_ ** this bullshit and death that **_YOU-”_ **

 

He pointed, his finger pressed down on her snout with an uncomfortable amount of force.

 

“- made sure happen! Has _ALLLLLL_ been because _I_ missed my turn on the _fucking_ interstate! Yeah! There’s your ‘ **_Plan for my GREATEST ESCAPE’_ ** right there! I missed my _fucking_ turn, I got _fucking_ spotted. And crashed! And bit up by **_DOGS-”_ **

 

Of all the onlookers, a more canine looking one slunk out of sight, whimpering.

“-and **_SHOT_** and _all_ sorts of _shit!_ And in my desperation, I decided instead of letting my ass get _caught:_ **I’d rather KILL myself!... c’mere you motherfucker.”** **  
  
**

Then, just as suddenly as his move to knock her down, Brainz grabbed her by her shoulders and thrust her back onto her feet, and before she could do so much as reach for her discarded glasses or try to free herself:  Brainz adjusted his grip to her _neck_ and impelled her into the mirror, a shattering noise filled the room as the surface fell to pieces from the force. Brainz held her against the fractured surface, her stubby legs kicking and struggling, her arms bound by the grip on them. He was almost surprised by how light she was, enough he only needed one arm to keep her there. He stopped his unwillingly humored outlook and and began forcing so much emphasis on his words: every hard consonant caused him to expectorate on Alphys’s face.  

“I jumped down this **_pit_ ** to nowhere, expecting my _neck_ to ***SNAP* _RRRGNH!-_ ”** ****

He slammed her into the damaged mirror again, she cried out, her wind knocked out of her as she hyperventilated. Brainz’s voice then dropped an octave and down a degree from yelling… now just a sinister growl.

“-into **_two…_ **  and you’re telling me I had this all planned from the **_START  MMnfGH!-"_ **

 

Another impact and a grimace from her… no onlooker came to her aid… nobody was brave enough: they wouldn’t dare come between him and her.

 

The red eyed monster glared into her very SOUL.

“- I’m having a _very_ hard time under- _standing_ that; see… I’d rather **_OFF_ ** myself than spend another **_minute_ ** with you filthy **_dregs._ ** So tell me… _one_ more time.”

 

The way his voice dithered like that… it could’ve been anything: a threat, a dare… a demand…

 

Alphys was wheezing from fear, she did everything she could to open her mouth to say anything to save herself. All of her effort resulted in two words squeaking out… her only defense, feeble.

“Delta… _Rune…”_

* * *

 

**“** **_BRING UP THAT *FUCKING* THING AGAIN!-”_ ** ****  


Like a bomb going off, the room suddenly boomed with his eruption, Brainz pressed her into the wall with more force than ever. His grip was now suffocating.

**_*KA-LICK!*_ **

 

His free hand produced and cocked the revolver… and then it forced the rusted barrel into her mouth, every statement he concluded: had the gun being thrust into her trembling maw again and again.

“- **I don’t FUCKING** **_know_ ** **why it’s there! Why don’t** **_you_ ** **fucking tell me?!** **_WHY_ ** **is it there?! Think it’s news to you, It’s MY fucking body and I didn’t know until now, and you have the balls to tell me what I do and don’t** **_know?!”_ **

 

He removed the gun from her mouth for the momentary digression, a thought coming to him. It only made him come back, more rabid: the gun was forced back through her lips, she gagged on it.

 

“N **o… what if...one of YOU assholes did it to me? I have** **_no_ ** **idea what’s going on with my own body, you motherfuckers probably did it to me. It was** **_YOU_ ** **wasn’t it?! Trying to make me lose control of myself!! Take that AWAY from me!!! I won’t LET YOU! I’ve been through TOO much to let you fuck it up!”**

 

He panted, without uttering another word. The gun was still firmly planted in the monster’s mouth, tilted up to the roof and aimed at her brain. Alphys just wheezed frantically, without ever looking away from him: a lone tear streaked from her eye.

Brainz then suffered a violent twitch,  his teeth were clenched shut and ground together, scraping more of his rotten enamel into the air. His pupils had shrunk, never had they been so small and focused; like two red suns  from the infinite void within him. The nearly pitch black gaunt added emphasis to them. His white and wrinkled cheeks were flush with vermillion. His tone, brought down to a simmer, a low rasp. It was calm and methodical, like he’d just distanced himself a million miles away.

“Call me, a liar… _one_ more time… I dare you…”

 

**_Give me an excuse to pull the trigger, I’ll end you just like I did, Gerson: you’ll never see it coming._ **

 

A thought… a memory somehow found its way inside... and it began to fester. There was an overwhelming odor of ozone and must in the air… overshadowed by rot, he dared to turn away towards the smell for just a moment.

 

There they were... like every nightmare they persisted.

 

He could see them, those _accusing,_ and **_judgemental_ ** eyes, how they stared into him. They _all_ did, they always did, never taking their vengeful gazes away. All of them jeering as they passed him, all wishing for his death.

 

 

**_*\\\=\\(ᵞᴼᵁ’ᴿᴱ ᴳᴬᴿᴮᴬᴳᴱ, ᵞᴼᵁ’ᴿᴱ ᴺᴼᵀᴴᴵᴺᴳ ᴮᵁᵀ ᴳᴬᴿᴮᴬᴳᴱ._ **

**_ᵞᴼᵁ’ᴿᴱ ᴳᴼᴵᴺᴳ ᵀᴼ ᴮᵁᴿᴺ._ **

**_ᴷᴵᴸᴸ ᴴᴵᴹ!! ᴰᴼ ᴵᵀ ᴬᴸᴿᴱᴬᴰᵞ!!_ **

**_ᴵ ᵂᴬᴺᵀ ᵀᴼ ˢᴱᴱ ᴴᴵᴹ ˢᵁᶠᶠᴱᴿ_ **

**_ᴵ ᴴᴼᴾᴱ ᴵᵀ ᶠᵁᶜᴷᴵᴺᴳ ᴴᵁᴿᵀˢ >/[]|=_ **

****

And towering over them, behind the facade of the angry crowd, it wasn’t Toriel, but it was standing there, drenched in red and and as decomposed as ever. It was _n_ _ot Toriel._

 

‘Not-Toriel’ stood there with that big, sarcastic grin: boney claws grasping the shoulders of the very child that dared to stand up to Brainz… how they cried for his downfall… and what _she_ did was wink… and move her perforated, maggot infested lips.

**“ＤＯ ＩＴ.”**

 

He was guilty as hell, transparent as glass: there was no hiding what he did, the dormant screens lining the walls suddenly flashed to life: bruised and mugshot faces of empty accusing stares. They all wanted revenge, the hammer was coming down like a thunderclap.

 

The sirens were so close… he could see the lights flashing through the holes in her, they were already there… he couldn’t win this… but he could damn well make sure _she_ didn’t win either.

 

Brainz turned the killing end of the weapon at the crowd, at **_her._ ** The smile on her face only widened, and she mouthed it again, so gleeful to see it coming-

**“** **_Ｄｏ ｉｔ.”_ **

 

-for once, he would’ve been more than happy to give her what she wanted and pull the trigger: until the sirens lost their repetitive nature… and began to fall out from their constant cacophony: sounding more like terrified and young screams… everything became a blur, distortion filled his vision like film covered in smudges.

 

_**No... not yet... I'm not ready.** _

_**STOP.** _

 

He blinked to try to force it all away, but by the time his vision cleared, she was gone… they all were. All he could see, was the the departing forms of small monsters running in terror from the hallway, running away from the human who’d pointed the gun at them. And then there was nothing, the screens relapsed to their lifeless state: and the world was silent… save for the fear stricken gasping of the lizard he’d pressed against the wall.

 

Reality came back in, his veins were flowing with liquid lead: everything became unbearably heavy… and Alphys would get one last look into his eyes-

As they both dilated, the one losing its crimson glare: and his cheeks lost their color as well.

-before Brainz dropped her to the floor and shambled away, he hunched over; one hand pressed into an undisturbed mirror for balance, and he began retching. The convulsions worsened and sped up until the red came out. His revolver fell to the floor, the sound of the impact complimenting his grueling hacks, they wouldn’t stop until he was drooling onto a small puddle of red lava at his feet. His one hand, dripping with the rich liquid.

 

Doubled over and watching the drops hit the floor, he couldn’t help but feel the weight of what he was about to do bearing down on him. He almost did it… that’s what _she_ would’ve wanted, murder a child in cold blood: the definitive move from a bad guy like him. That’s what she wanted all along… how could he have been so _stupid._ She was trying to kill him, they all were… getting in his head, turning it against him.

_My head… it hurts._

 

A footstep echoed down the hall, Brainz forced himself to straighten up, despite the pain below: Alphys had curbed her gasps and gotten to her feet… she made a considerably intrepid step towards him, trying to get closer in his moment of vulnerability. It wasn’t going to happen.

 

Brainz wiped everything from his lips and snatched the gun off the floor before she’d even be able to reach for it; _immediately_ when he got it back into his grip was it pointed right back at her. With the stance, the words came out like muscle memory.

“Stay away from me…”

 

She stopped alright, but that didn’t quell the anxiety: especially not that she made this move the moment he took his attention off of her, Alphys seemed completely and utterly unphased by the tension that had held her up… mind for the tiny pieces of glass stuck to the back of her coat.

“Back it up…. _More.”_

 

As he found his disheveled thoughts, the bitterness was able to come back and cool everything back down: ceasing the burning sensation inside of him. The glaring feel of paranoia was settling back in. It took the conspicuous monster a moment to heed the demand, just more time to wonder what she was going to try… well, until she bent over and reached for the glasses that’d fallen to the floor; checking them for any exacerbation on the damage: and then backing away. He felt… a strange obligation to explain what’d just happened, not that Alphys deserved to know at this point, but he wasn’t going to begrudge her anything else for her radical assumptions.

“I’m not sorry for that-”

He uttered, spitting another glob tainted with red as he watched the monster trying to brush glass off herself, taking caution not to step in it. Brainz shuddered his breaths, unsettled himself, he tried to make sure she couldn’t tell… with a scowl and a dead panned voice, gun still affixed to her.

“-you deserved that… you should feel _lucky_ I came back in time.”

 

A mostly silent chuckle came out, void of humor but riddled with fear. Brainz squinted and shook his head: helpless to his own look of disbelief. He should’ve only known she wouldn’t have the context.

 

“Do you _even_ know...  how close I was to finding out if you have gray matter in your head…”

Suddenly, as he watched her try to correct her lenses, Brainz sounded so much more sincere: he just leapt to a completely different tone: shaking his head violently. As if shaking out the bad thoughts.

“You see this shit?!-”

 

And he threw his arm out to the shattered mirror and the hazard of broken glass on the floor, even to the strange mark forming on Alphy’s scaly neck.

“- that wasn’t even _me!-”_

 

He hushed his voice, but the urgency remained. The result of his mind being bogged down by the anxious considerations of others nearby.

“- I mean… I wasn’t doing that on purpose… I didn’t even _want_ to do that. **_You think I’d just *murder* someone in cold blood like that?!_ ** I guess you _would, but-”_

 

An exasperated, pained groan came out of him as his one hand pressed onto his head, trying to cover up the dull misery inside. He went monotonous and dull, changing the immediate topic all together.

“-you ever get so worked up that you just… can’t help but think terrible thoughts? Things that would _never_ come up to you, but that you’ve been pushed so far  that _they just climb out from the darkest parts of you?_ Desires to do things to people… things you’d never dream of doing in real life; much less share them out loud?-”

 

He shook the gun at her, a direct mention.

“-I think you know exactly what I’m talking about, you were probably suppressing them _yourself_ when you blew up at me back there: don’t say you weren't; but you _never_ planned to do good on them… maybe you did… _well-”_

 

Then he turned it on himself and prodded his chest with the barrel.

“- I’m not so **_fortunate,_ ** see… **** I’m _always_ fighting with those thoughts…  I’m always thinking them whether I want to or _not…_ I’m fucking sick, they wont stop-”

 

He worked himself up another tier, twitching and curling up his fingers into claws… not putting a lot of attention on anyone else but him anymore.

“-they never stop, why _would_ they? They just started when I slept so I _stopped_ sleeping and now they’re all the time! And It’s everywhere with everyone! Thoughts of just going out of my skull and just, **_attacking_ ** them like a-”

 

A pained sigh and another set of hands rubbing on his temples, they pulsated with a puncturing kind of feel.

“- _ANYway,_ anyway; whenever I feel sufficiently ‘Threatened’?  Even ‘Enraged?’ _Mmh?_ I end up losing complete control over my own actions. I fall off the deep end, I flip my lid, **_I_ ** **_lose my fuckin’ SHIT!_ ** You catch my _drift??"_

He caught himself again from getting too excited, forcing himself back to his monotonous drone, he _had_ to. Brainz could still feel the seething below his skin, he still wanted to wrap his hands around her throat, but he knew better… he knew to restrain himself no matter how much he hated her right now.

“A _ny_ -way… once I get there, it’s like an impulse for self preservation taking over… my mind just- it just, I can’t even describe it.  I lose my grasp on reality, it all feels so **_surreal_ ** … and I can’t even tell what I’m _doing…_ I can still feel my body moving, my arms swinging  wildly… my legs stomping and _kicking…_ I can feel all the hits I’m taking, but I can’t cry out in pain… I-”

 

He just up and looked at her with such a frank expression, she wasn’t even prepared and twitched slightly, a suppressed shudder. Brainz reduced his voice to a whisper once more.

“- I’ve done some horrible shit in my life before, that much I’ll admit… but I can’t even remember the _worst_ things I’ve done… I only get to come back to the messes I’ve made where by the time I can hold my own thoughts again… I’ve just disemboweled a walking fish, killed an old man with one punch… or splattered a pretentious lizard’s brains on the walls…”

 

That last one… he could see the thought unfolding in her eyes, the dread…  He took another moment without input from her, just to sigh, all daunted and pitiful.

“Yeah, I know… I don’t get any say in it, I just get to ‘revel’ in the aftermath, forced to deal with everything… and no matter _how_ hard I try to avoid this, to spare **_everyone,_ ** lock myself _far far_ away… I just can’t. I get stuck around people, and it’s only a matter of time."

 

What he then did was scoff discardingly and he sought to repeat something she’d spouted at him before, it had a sliver of humor in it: if not because he knew how absurd it sounded.

“ 'I can trust you’ _No I can’t!_ I can’t trust _you…_ I can’t trust _anybody!!_ Not when I can’t even trust **_myself!_ ** _”_

 

Then the frustration flared back up, his thoughts collected themselves and played back; a slideshow of every bad encounter he’d had down here, horror stricken faces and sore wounds flashing before his eyes. He swung his arm towards the defeated mirror.

“How _can_ I!? When I have to worry about ripping someone’s _head_ off every **5** fucking minutes!!-”

 

Then at the aftershock of a rant, he spun to Alphys and pointed at her.

 

“-and _you-_ I don’t like being called a liar to my face; and then accused of _actual_ lies… but I _really_ don’t like losing control- and making everyone suffer because they were to daft to see it coming.”

With that, he was done: finally allowing for an unpleasant silence to fall on both of them, he just wanted to see what she’d do now, what more could possibly happen when he reached his lowest point. He’d finally lost all the momentum from the episode, and was back to being depressed to keep himself calm… it did come with a final comment though.

“I hate myself… I really do, but I can’t even be the kind of “ _Bad_ Guy” you think I am… I don’t want to live like this… I don’t want to exist, it’s too painful all the time.”

 

* * *

  
  


The moment went on, and he waited calmly for the reaction. It took the monster a good while to come to one, a lot of parsing in her thoughts… maybe preparations for what she’d do next. She couldn’t even look him in the eyes after all that had happened, Alphys was reduced to looking at the floor just beyond her feet, at all the glimmering shards of glass.

“If you…”

 

She lost her focus, and had to try again with a deep breath.

“If you don’t want to live… why are you fighting so hard to stay alive?”

 

She just _had_ to go there.

 

In his psychologically battered state, Brainz could’ve only recognized that as another objection, it was _never_ enough for her. She just wanted to set him off again, and he told her _exactly_ how to do it, for someone he didn’t trust; he was quite liberal in sharing things he didn’t even like knowing.

 

Brainz wanted to snap right back at her, loudly demanding she shut her big ugly mouth with some pejorative thrown in there… he _wanted_ to, but he never did. Brainz never got to yell at her… because there were just too many conflicts that had fluttered into his head when she asked him that.

 

Why _was_ he staying alive?  Well _obviously_ for Flowey and now Toriel’s sake, he couldn’t help them if he was dead, Alphys didn’t need to know that: she didn’t _deserve_ to know, not from Brainz. She had her stupid intrusive cameras, she could please herself all she wanted, he didn’t care. But no… _before_ that, before he even met Flowey and they made that pact of theirs… what what was his motive then? He did wish to escape the underground, but… _why_ again?

 

Brainz was not fond of his daily life on the surface, he had absolutely no desire to return to it, and he certainly wasn’t doing this for the sake of these monsters, fuck them. They were all doomed the moment he fell, he was beginning to accept the fact that even if he escaped _days_ ago, the military still would’ve come down and slaughtered everyone, there was no question in that. So _why_ was he trying to stay alive?

 

Was it spite? That… he figured monsters wanted his soul to complete a ritual or something that would help them undo humanity, and he wasn’t going to have any of that? As selfish as that was, it wasn’t too far fetched for something he’d do… but no, it really wasn’t that and while he was narrowing the list: blowing up Asgore and avenging all the children he murdered wasn’t going to apply either as Brainz only planned this when he met Flowey.

 

Surely there _must’ve_ been **_some_ ** good reason he decided to subject himself to all this cruel and unusual punishment… actually, why did he even jump down that hole to begin with anyway? He did have a _gun,_ he could’ve just committed suicide in front of all those cops, or better yet if he pointed the gun at them they would’ve done it _for_ him! What were you even thinking doing a swan dive down a hole you weren’t even sure was| ʏᴏᴜ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ

 

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ

ᴵ ᴰᴼᴺ'ᵀ ᴷᴺᴼᵂᴵ ᴰᴼᴺ'ᵀ ᴷᴺᴼᵂᴵ ᴰᴼᴺ'ᵀ ᴷᴺᴼᵂᴵ ᴰᴼᴺ'ᵀ ᴷᴺᴼᵂ

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ

**ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ**

**ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ**

**_Ｉ ｄｏｎ'ｔ ｋｎｏｗＩ ｄｏｎ'ｔ ｋｎｏｗＩ ｄｏｎ'ｔ ｋｎｏｗ_ **

**ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ**

**ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ**

**ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ**

**_ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ_ **

**_ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ_ **

  


I    **_D  O N T    KN OW._ **

 

* * *

 

“I… I couldn’t even tell you if I… I… uhhhh…”

He couldn’t even finish the thought, it did a fade on him; falling into obscurity before he could even notice.

 

“Why not?”

It didn’t help that she was right on top of him: craving answers he ultimately didn’t have.

 

**ꜱᴛᴏᴘ ᴅᴏᴜʙᴛɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ**

“Because I don’t _know!_ Get off my _fucking_ back for **_once_** in your fucking life, **I DON’T** ** _KNOW!!!”_**

 

He became immediately defensive, screaming at her for having the same question he did. The sounds of his frustration easily spanned the lab. It was so abrupt that he got a startled gasp from her. That certainly didn’t stop him from continuing.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t. **_Know!_ ** I just- **_HNNNRRGh!-”_ **

 

He devolved into a frustrated growl, feeling completely lost and losing all the momentum he just had. Brainz couldn’t even remember why he was so mad… which only made him more agitated. The headaches worsened. He held onto his head, keeping it from exploding like usual… somehow he found the resolve to continue talking. His argument though lost all of its steam, and now he just groaned miserably while covering his face.  

“- I’ve been asking myself that for _years…_ ‘Why bother going on when I know it’s only going to get worse?’ Why bother living when **_this_ ** is what I get out of life, I fucking _hate_ my life an I just want it to fucking STOP! I don't WANT this!"

 

Something caused him to jolt his attention back to her… that look in her eyes, it looked so condescending and _fake…_  sure she looked terrified and concerned beyond question… but Brainz saw _behind_ it, he _knew_ what she really meant… what she was going to further demean him with. Brainz became frantic to put that down, he tensed himself and yelled a comeback born from the assumption in his head.

“ _NO!_ That doesn’t give you the right to try’an KILL me! It doesn’t mean _any_ of you are to _allowed_ to! You stay the **_fuck_ ** away from me!”

 

And he pointed the weapon at her, taking a big and threatening step as Alphys backed away slowly. Brainz made sure to keep bringing his gun into the situation at every chance he could. Showing every inkling of his contempt by pointing it at this mortified scientist.

“Because I swear to god, I will take everyone down to hell with me before I let _any_ of you fuckstains kill me.”

 

Once again it was like a switch had been flipped inside of him, Brainz convulsed and couldn’t return to how he was, that deranged look in his eye vanished: and he continued without a hint of the paranoia he just spouted. He lowered his gun and stance again and held a hand up, definitely.

“No… when I die, it’s going to be on **_my_ ** terms, you hear me? _I’m_ going to be the one who ends my life, _me_ … not _you,_ not a monster, not the _military,_ **_nobody, ‘Niente’_ ** just me.”

 

He had to shrug in light of everything that related to this, Brainz really couldn’t be anything but frank here, he certainly wasn’t happy.

“It’s the only thing I have _control_ over anymore… only thing that _hasn’t_ been taken away from me… and that’s exactly what everyone wants outta me: so you know what? **_That’s_ ** why, I do this to myself, stead of just…”

 

Again… assumptions, a snide question came from the monster, only in his head of course. Alphys hadn’t said anything let alone _looked_ at him different, But Brainz already snapped back with a rebuttal… he was so quick to do it too, that he stuttered.

_“Ye-you- I woulda done it myself already..._ if I didn’t…  have my _own_ little problem… yeah-”

Brainz nodded smugly and began poking at his temple.

“- _yeaaaah_ I’m just full of problems aren’t I? Yeah! Laugh it up! The mentally sick guy can’t even kill himself right! _So_ fucking funny!”

 

He stifled another groan into a sigh and didn’t say anything for a moment… it was here that he really took in what was going on _outside_ of him for once, rather than being preoccupied inside of his own head. Brainz was just talking _at_ Alphys, not that she seemed to try to add anything into this argument… she was more concerned with letting Brainz wear himself down: much lest she interrupt him and risk more bodily harm. Maybe it was more than that, maybe she really wanted to hear him out for once, a way of apology for how she treated him before… the same couldn’t be said about the onlookers from behind, the same ones Brainz had pointed a gun at while enveloped in his brief psychosis.

They weren’t too happy with how things were going, but none of them were willing to do anything about it, not even considering a selfless act, helping their scientist escape this deranged human. All the excitement and yelling that had occured seemed to upset some young and unseen voices, enough that Brainz could hear them whimpering from just outside the corridor.

 

_He_ did that, he caused them to cry… and lest he forget that _he_ caused all this; **_all of this ‘_ ** All of this’.  Yet here he was, giving this disgruntled and relatable overstressed person shit for being distrusting of him. Alphys was being mighty magnanimous sparing Brainz everything _but_ being skeptical… she had her reasons to hate him, _good_ ones too… but she didn’t act on those because it wouldn’t be helpful to all the refugees she had under her care. Of _course_ she had to be a better person than him.

 

In _any_ different scenario, on a tremendously smaller moral scale, Brainz could’ve been somewhat justified here… but the fact was… he was already in the wrong. He would’ve been in the wrong even if he sat there and took it, there was just no way he could ever get it right. No matter how he thought of it now… when he looked into the shining remains scattered on the floor… all he saw was a raving lunatic. This didn’t mean he had to like how she treated him… it didn’t mean he had to like how _anybody_ treated him: he was still human in _some_ marginal way. The fact that he was, was the reason he could still feel horrible after doing _horrible_ things and he hated it, he hated how it was a part of him he just couldn’t stop feeling even after losing himself so much.

 

So… he let it sink in, and he let it go _‘all the way’_ into his psyche, with the sounds of mewling anguish keeping him grounded. He took a deep sigh and returned to doing his best to get this over with without anymore pain. Brainz apologized for scaring the children… and even for making a mess here… not so much for batetring Alphys, but it was something. Back to what he started… and wanted to finish, but calmly.

“Anyway… I’ve gotten real close before… lowest parts of my life had me on the verge of doing it… but, when I get there-”

 

He had to make sure his intent was obvious, he made sure to show how lost he was; _sincere._

 

“- and I’m being serious, everything I’ve told you about myself is the goddamn truth, I wouldn’t hate admitting them so much if it wasn’t… but _this…_ this is different.  When I’ve got a gun to my head… a rope around my neck, or… (heh) a finger on a grenade pin? As soon as I feel that I’m about to do it… that _all_ I gotta do is close my eyes and let go… it happens….  I… I just… I really can’t _explain_ it… I’m really trying to… it’s just."

He fumbled and tried to find words, it was a very humble display: one that’d be impossible to misinterpret. It could’ve alleviated some of the confused terror he’d instilled into Alphys. Brainz found something to go with, even then he knew it wouldn’t do much justice.

“I-I… get this sudden _rush_ of just… well… **_determination,_ ** not to die… like I just _can’t_ do it: that I just _have_ to keep going, it’s like a stronger adrenaline. It sounds really _stupid_ but-”

 

“Ohh my god!”

That was from Alphys all of a sudden reminding Brainz she still existed, she wasn’t too loud on it, but the intent for the exclamation was there. When Brainz looked to her, he’d be further thrown off by the shocked look on her face, her jaw looked like it was about to fall to the floor for a moment before she covered it. Brainz didn’t get it.

“...What… you think I’m making this up too? I’m **_really_ ** not- I just don’t-”

 

But he was stopped, with a claw being held up to pause him. Alphys fidgeted through her pockets.

“ _No,_ that’s not quite it- it’s, I _finally_ figured it out, figured **_you_ ** out! It’s in _this!”_

 

With her excited explanation, Alphys presented the self proclaimed answer to the mystery that predated Brainz ever setting a foot down here: a vial of red with his name on it. Brainz already grimaced and groaned unwillingly to indulge in the same nonsense that spurred this. 

“Oh c’mon… please don’t start this shit again…”

 

“ **_LISTEN_ ** to me! Just… **_LISTEN…_ ** do you want to know or not?!”

 

She was just as tired of arguing as _he_ was to point she was going to show him the same apathy he’d treated her with.

 

Brainz went with the resurgence of aggravation, he could feel the ‘push’ on him again. That was all Alphys did to him, push and expect more and more out of him. She expected some… amoral criminal mastermind with a deep and brooding past that related to this place, she wanted a villian… just like her girlfriend and just like their shared “interests”. Brainz was so far past the end of his rope, he couldn’t even remember what it felt like to hang on.

“I’ve _been_ listening to you! All you’ve been doing is accusing me of shit I didn’t **_do!_ ** You haven’t told or showed me _anything_ outside of what you _want_ me to be just so it’d be convenient to brand me as a villain!”

 

She disregarded her shaking claws and pounding heart to accost him… but really, she felt like discarding him.

“That’s a lie and you know it! But no!  No-Fine, if you don’t wanna know, that’s your decision…  As you’ve so outwardly put; you’re an adult and you know what? I’m done arguing with you… _go…_ go out there unprepared.”

 

With that, she returned the blood vial to her pocket, and took a big step out of the way to lean against the wall and let Brainz have his way without her getting _in_ it. He was almost surprised by this… but he made sure to give off a sense of satisfaction from it, he ‘Harumphed’ and sneered at her.

“ _Fine by me…_ I already wasted so much more time down here than I had: _first_ good decision you made with me.”

 

He cleared his throat and holstered his gun: and like that, he was off to walk away indignantly… he didn’t know how to leave quite yet but he was going to find out with _out_ her. FIRSTLY… that vending machine he noticed was about to have its reckoning day. Brainz passed Alphys without another word or even a glance, he approached the large room and saw all the peekers scattering from the brink as he neared. He took another three steps which slowed in their execution up until he halted very gradually. Then he was just standing there… as if he had paused himself.

 

…

 

His fingers twitched and fidgeted nervously as if playing musical chairs with each other, none would rest. Brainz moistened his lips and swallowed four times… when his hands suddenly clenched into fists, that was when he resumed.

“OK, **_FINE!”_ ** ****  


He spun around and piped up, going to stamp right back up to her.

“What is it?! What is **_so_ ** goddamn important about my blood that you’re preaching it like the good _book?!”_

 

Alphys hadn’t changed her pose nor her expresion the entire time… not even a twitch when Brainz yelled out of nowhere, her emotionless gaze and slouched pose almost looked _smug_ in the face of Brainz losing his cool once more. Maybe she saw his temper and found the only way to get through to him by pushing his buttons and casting him out… he’d find his way back. She couldn’t have been _that_ good… right? She _was_ after all: exhausted and pushed to her absolute end too, so she may have been happier if he kept going and ended this here and there… but here he was right before her. And by _some_ sheer coincidence, she knew exactly what to say.

 

“You said it yourself… you’re 'determined'.”

 

“ **_So…?_ ** What’s _that_ s’posed to mean?”

 

She decided not to show him the vial again, instead using solely words. Presenting what she knew without having to tint it to any emotion, there was no need to. Expressing feeling at this point felt numb. She figured to do her and Brainz a favor and deliver this with a deadpan monotone.

“ _Everything…_ it’s everything. At least everything _I’ve_ ever had to know…”

* * *

 

It was an absolute miracle that she was able to tell him everything without being interrupted once, not even to notice the changing expressions on his face. She went through _everything…_ stemming from the very research her long gone preceptor started, and even to the more unspeakable things she would’ve been content to take to her grave. At some point, what she was saying was so horrible, that Brainz knew it couldn’t have been made up anymore.

 

What she told him… made her out to be a downright _villain!_ These were crimes against humanity she was admitting to! Brainz never put to mind the ramifications for her own people and her transgressions… but somewhere in his thoughts he’d imagine they’d be _bad,_ like **_really_ ** bad…

 

Harvesting souls from murdered children for Asgore: throwing their bodies into the evil looking machine to extract this ‘ **_Determination’,_ ** injecting it into deceased monsters and reanimating them: monsters melting into shapeless forms of collective consciousness. This wasn’t even evil anymore, it was a downright horror show. It all wrapped up together where Alphys eventually gave into cowardice and hid away from what she’d done. Unwilling to look anyone in the eyes associated with it.

 

However… as atrocious as this all was, it had an ancillary truth to it, something that Brainz expected even less than the gruesome truth itself. Alphys was the self appropriated ‘bad guy’ down here before Brainz showed up, she’d never get to live without the past trying to pull her back into oblivion. When Brainz did show up… he was the one way she could escape it, at least for a little while… so of course she tried to sway the title onto him. It was all in the open now, and he understood her motives perfectly.

 

Sure, it was a dishonorable thing to do… and he felt she was just as much of a scumbag as him for it, but he really couldn’t blame her; after all, Brainz would’ve done the same thing. But Alphys…   she hadn’t wisened and given up yet… she was still ‘trying’ to make it all better, as if she _could._ She still had hope and that was a rookie mistake for inexperienced bad guys.  She wasn’t so much of an _asshole…_ as she was naive and desperate. Brainz _would’ve_ felt pity for her, if he hadn't fallen into high disbelief over what she just told him.

 

It took him a good couple of minutes to comprehend everything, a good couple of minutes of tense silence in the room.

 

**35:18:52**

**35:18:51**

**35:18:50**

**...**

  



	13. Befallen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad things are about to go down...  
> A little flower told me! 
> 
> But don't worry about it,  
> it's all going to be fine now.
> 
> ᴵ ᵂᴬˢᵀᴱᴰ ᴴᴼᵁᴿˢ ᵂᴵᵀᴴ ᵀᴴᴬᵀ ˢᵀᵁᴾᴵᴰ ᴸᴵᶻᴬᴿᴰ. ᴵ ᵀᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀ ᴼᶠ ᴬᴸᴸ ᴾᴱᴼᴾᴸᴱ, ˢᴴᴱ ᶜᴼᵁᴸᴰ ᴴᴱᴸᴾ ᴹᴱ.  
> ˢᴴᴱ'ˢ ᵁˢᴱᴸᴱˢˢ, ᴶᵁˢᵀ like ᵀᴴᴱ ᴼᵀᴴᴱᴿˢ.  
> ᴵᶠ ᵀᴴᴵᴺᴳˢ ᴰᴼᴺ'ᵀ ᴳᴼ ᴿᴵᴳᴴᵀ ᵂᴵᵀᴴ ᵀᴼᴿᴵᴱᴸ, ᴵ ᴹᴬᵞ ᴶᵁˢᵀ ᴷᴵᴸᴸ ᴹᵞˢᴱᴸᶠ

 

“So… you’re telling me- you’re telling me right? That… _all_ of this shit, s’because my blood is spiked with some-”

 

His voice pitched up and strained as he struggled to come to terms and began rubbing his eyes as sweat trickled onto his twitching hands.

“-some… ‘ _super chemical’?”_

 

Brainz looked to her, hoping she was about to reprimand him for getting such a wrong idea, but she did not. Alphys did nothing except watch Brainz fall into his own thoughts and devices.

“Makes you into like a freaking mutant _rhino,_ brings you back from the _dead-_ gives you fucking _superpowers?”_

He shifted up to her and immediately spoke up with the _obvious_ deduction, voicing it with awe after a bewildered stutter.

“Are you telling me I _literally_ cannot die because my blood won't _‘let’_ me??”

 

There was an _insulting_ lack of any visible objection to what he said, Alphys wasn’t even trying, she was content to watch him question everything he ever knew. Her lack of contribution didn’t hinder Brainz any in his outright confusion. Brainz hesitated before the outburst.

 

“You... are... out of your fucking **_mind!!_ ** That’s insane! Like- **_REALLY_ ** insane!! Nah- _fuck_ that! First you throw me into your bullshit prophecy as a reason to _whack_ me, and _now_ you’re saying I’m **_IMMORTAL?!"_ **

 

Brainz let out an absolutely exasperated wheeze, he shrugged and forced the most crooked grin on his face that he could. He tried to laugh it off deliberately… but it wasn’t that funny…

“I don’t fucking _believe_ it, I _really_ don’t! It just _doesn’t_ stop, the bullshit- **_never_ ** STOPS!”

 

Brainz started to huff spitefully, aggressively pointing to a motionless Alphys.

“There is **_NO_ ** way in hell that that makes sense, Absolutely fucking **_nothing._ ** It doesn’t explain **_anything!_ ** ‘Determination’ isn’t a goddamned super serum: I am **_NOT-_ ** a superhuman or _whatever_ the fuck you just branded me as. I’d rather go back to you just calling me an **asshole!”**

 

He paced around in his spot, completely without focus.

“Y-ye-yeh-yeh-ye- It’s just as well you’d come up with this! You _would!_ That _I’m_ the freak, and that explains _everything_ wrong with the world! That’s the worst fucking explanation I’ve heard in my life, and I’ve tried just about _everything…_ but leave it to the deluded and overzealous **_LLlii-zard…!_ ** To try and drag me even _further_ into this place!”

 

On his last circle, he walked up to Alphys: getting real close to her again. She did flinch when he entered grabbing range again, but that was all she did. Brainz had no intention of laying a hand on her, he just wanted to accost her.

“If that is _so_ true, then tell me: why haven’t _we_ discovered this for ourselves, _OR_ more importantly: _why_ is it only _me?!_ Out of everyone I get close to, _why_ am I the only one who doesn’t _die?!_ It doesn’t make any sense!”

 

Right there, in the glare he held to her: his eyes lost some of their sharpness. A shred of doubt from what he said caused him to ease from her, just slightly. His tone became less brash and more unsure, Brainz found it just a trifle difficult to keep his train of thought.

“Ok, if _every_ human is born with this ‘determination’. Why would I be different? What makes _me_ so special? Ok? Why does everyone else have a hard time staying alive except _me??_ I _just_ don’t-”

He just shifted in tone, a thought came up and it demanded to be addressed right away, out loud and to himself, but audible to more than that.

“- you don’t even know the things I’ve walked away from… much less the ones I couldn’t _even walk_ from, but I was just _lucky,_ I-i always am for some- this doesn’t mean any."

 

He gave up on what he was saying and moved to something else, just like that. Brainz turned away from her and began muttering again, the argument had ceased to show between him and Alphys and now, it was trying to slink into his thoughts. He was barely audible, and even less sure of himself.

 

“But what about my eye?... It’s been broken since I was a kid, and the monster language… that’s all started since I fell down here, it couldn’t have been pre existing… could it? Is this _really_ why I haven’t been able to **_do it_ ** for all these years?... my own blood thinks I have a _purpose?-No ..._ no.”

 

So he turned back to her and cleared his throat to give the impression he was back on track; he wasn’t, and the anxiety was showing.

“ _Okay,_ uhm… if this is something I’ve _been_ having-”

 

He swallowed and grimaced, pushing the words out.

“- why would the rest of the-the _‘abilities’…_ show up only _here?..._ My eyes, and the _text…_ I don’t get it… there’s something you’re not telling _me…_ ok? Nevermind the crimes against humanity or ‘monsterkind’ or whatever, you’re just evil. What I _really_ want to know is.”

 

He never finished that thought: spiraling to something completely different and out of place. He almost jumped up when it did hit him. Another hopeful contradiction to the theory, so it wasn’t denial. There were air quotes involved.

 

“ _Alright!_ So I’m supposed to be able to just: **heal all of my injuries on a whim whenever I feel ‘determined’**. Because _that_ would explain why I haven’t keeled over from _blood loss:_ or _shock,_ or the fucking lack of **_pills,_** or a raging staph infection, or _whatever!_ I don’t fucking _know_ why I haven’t died from how shitty my health is right now! But **_you.”_**

 

Brainz already regretted what he was about to do. It was stupid and would create more complications that it would fix, but he pulled up his one pant leg and began tugging at the red and brown bandages keeping his knee together. He could feel the ‘stickiness’ as he tried to remove them, it made him groan nauseously… didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would though. Regardless, he tried to keep some kind of a straight face and keep his argument up.

“( _Uuulgh.)_ You tell _me,_ how’s _this_ lookin? Does this look ‘ **_healed_ ** _’_ to you?”

 

He didn’t want to look at it himself, afraid to see the festering purple mess of skin and pus unwrapped, the smell was rancid. Brainz wasn’t particularly squeamish about blood and gore; as long as it wasn’t particularly _his_ blood and horrible looking wound… he couldn’t help but take a peak; especially when he heard a quiet gasp from Alphys. Then _he_ gasped.

 

Surrounded by a mess of sticky red; the ugliest, most jagged looking scar he’d ever seen spanned his entre knee. _‘_ **_Healed’._ **

 

“...What the fuck… _what_ \- the fuck…”

 

The surprised whisper came out, Brainz and Alphys were both staring at it, but only he felt it. He could still feel the physical misery to it, even remembering the cold tearing feel as the blue lance sliced it open not even a day ago. The poorly done stitches were gone, but the blood was still **_damp._ ** It _had_ to have been blood, but it was so bright that it looked just like the vials of determination held just before him. They both glew like molten earth.

“No. No no no no no. This isn’t happening, this is _not_ happening…”

 

He couldn’t stand to dwell on this any longer, without another instance of hesitation; Brainz rolled up his one sleeve and began clawing at the second application of gauze. He was much less careful for agitating what lay beneath it… like it even mattered.

 

A ‘Z’ shaped scar, smeared with blood.

 

What occured next was a sequence of things, Brainz found every wound he’d closed up and sought to bring them to light by removing their bandages, he just wanted to see _one_ disgusting heap of flesh underneath, _one_ proof against the absurdity. The very hands that tore away at the gauze were freed from their own treatment, dozens of superficial looking scars that reminded him of a cutting board… but nothing was open. Not even the pricks up his one arm were present anymore.  


The last of first aid to go, were the butterfly stitches running up his cheeks; now, Undyne had clawed more scars on his face to accompany the old ones. Brainz had completely healed his injuries, even as he discovered this; the agony they gave him for all this time was beginning to ebb. It just didn’t exist, it was like phantom limb syndrome. He only wondered how long ago this happened, how long was he walking around feeling pain for things that didn’t exist anymore? Unless…

“You did this to me.”

 

He stopped the subtly frantic display and reaffirmed his attention to Alphys. He bore and entirely new accusation for her, never so keen to voice it with high prejudice.

 

Finally, after the cruel silence she inflicted on him; Alphys opened her mouth.

“What…”

 

Brainz jumped at her, louder and angrier. He pointed to himself and all the new and non life threatening scars he had.

“I said- you did this to me! You had me for _god_ knows how long to do _god_ knows what! You did that _magic_ **_green_ ** thing and made all my wounds close up so you could drop this on me! **_YES YOU DID!”_ **

 

Alphys returned her aloof demeanor and didn’t even spare Brainz with a return on his hysterics, she merely answered back.

“I did _not.”_

 

He was agitated and hinting at another frenzy, his body language suggested as much as he towered over her with his hands clenched into claws almost reaching out to her. Alphys kept herself calm, she fought the tremors that came onto her and only repeated herself. This would be the last time she did as she learned that arguing with him lead nowhere. The only way she could convince this human of _anything…_ would be to stand on what she claimed and to let his doubts close in on him.

“I. Did. _Not._ Heal you. You are in denial, and you are going to try to find something else to explain it before you accept it.”

 

He found _her._ Within seconds of her last statement; Brainz grabbed alphys by her coat’s collars this time. He lifted her up and let her dangle in his arms as he looked straight into her eyes. Alphys didn’t struggle much, she didn’t even seem surprised like the last time. She just let it happen. If anything, he was the one panicking.

 _“Yes you_ **_did!_ ** You **_HAD_ ** to! You _HAD_ to have done it! It _can’t_ be me, it just _can’t._ You hear me? It **_CAN’T.”_ ** ****__  
  


He let out a painfully long wheeze and gritted his teeth together. His face was frozen in a terrified display. Brainz shook her and begged her to admit she was behind this, that there was something he could believe. But Alphys just looked into his eyes, she didn’t even have to shake her head. Brainz lost most of his fearful energy, lowering his voice to a tired sounding moan.

“You. _Had_ to. It couldn’t have been me… I’m not special. I don’t belong here. It’s not supposed to _be_ like this, there just _has_ to be another **_reason_ ** -”

 

He let her go, lowering her gently and only opening his grip when she was firmly planted to the floor. Brainz only looked to her for one more thing to say. A desperate bid, barely audible.

“- **_please.”_ **

  


“I’m sorry, Brainz. But you are the most determined being I’ve ever seen.”

 

She watched him take it, that look of despair forming in his eyes. Alphys watched him nod ever so slightly. She watched him methodically go down to his knees and let his head fall into his hands. She felt a need to bring something up, something that had a very slim chance to help him.

“I. Wanted to tell you earlier, that you were different than the other humans. You were-”

 

“How did this happen?”

 

She didn’t get to finish when Brainz spoke with his head looking at the dirty tiles. All of the doubt and skepticism had died away, his voice was devoid of any of that. Everything he’d stood for had been completely razed; there was nothing now. Brainz had to reach for the light again, standing in the midst of chaos and the unknown. He’d just been born the last time this happened, grasping for a meaning to what he saw and what he heard.

“How did this happen, Alphys?”

 

He didn’t look up to her, he wasn’t convinced that he _could._

Some of her ‘ _self’_ seemed to come back, spurred from seeing this defeated man in front of her. No longer possessing the will to fight what faced him. He would hear everything she told him now, of that she was sure. She felt… _bad_ for him, as much as they defied each other; the similarities in them were too prevalent to avoid sympathy. She couldn’t help but feel like herself, unsure and anxious.

“I-I- don’t know… I told you; I’ve dealt with human souls before. And, god knows I’ve dealt with their bodies. (I still wish I never did)-”

 

Somehow she felt his one eye looking up from the floor at her, gazing tiredly. She doubled down.

“- I _told_ you, I’m the royal scientist! I already know your disposition with Asgore and everything to do with him. But I’m telling you, I didn’t have a choice! He brought me the bodies and I had to extract the SOULs before they shattered!”

 

She waited for any response, a flinch reaction to see if Brainz would accost her again. He didn’t, so she was able to get back to the point.

“Well. Like I was saying. I’ve dealt with SOULs, and I’ve dealt with bodies, but I’ve never had the chance to see when they were _together._ L-like you! You’re the first. _Live_ human I’ve ever seen in person! And you are the most… **_abnormal-”_ **

 

She almost felt the impact it had on Brainz, what she said. She stammered.

“-I-i’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to put it. Like that. I just meant you are literally unlike anything I’ve ever _seen._ You stand against _everything_ we’ve ever established; did you know that you could invalidate our _basic_ understanding of determination as a _whole?_ You _really_ have no idea how important you are.”

 

Maybe that was supposed to make him feel better about himself, it could’ve instilled a rush a self esteem to anybody; being told you mattered to an entire world. But Brainz didn’t get anywhere near that feeling, he was numb to it. Regardless of a positive notion, all he knew was that he didn’t want to matter to _anyone._ For that, he would be punished by mattering to _everyone._ He felt ‘silly’ for not seeing this coming. But he already knew the worst things he could think of paled in comparison to what this world had for him just minutes down the road.

 

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ewQiU3q5jM>

“Go. Figure…”

 

At this point, he couldn't care for it anymore, not enough to share despair it’d given him, he had twenty years worth of it to show. Alphys watched him slowly move one of his arms out from under his crumpled form. Brainz held it out, keeping it above the pile of filthy rags he’d shed. He pulled back his sleeve just for him to see the coded tattoo.

 

“I was supposed to die with her…”

An audible sniffle came from him, and his voice weakened and shuddered. Brainz ran his fingers over the letters and numbers.

“I shouldn’t have survived that night…”

 

A longer sniff, followed by a shallow cough or two. He covered the tattoo again but kept talking, droning dully.

“I shouldn’t have even _made_ it there… ye- you know; I was supposed to die- **_loong_ ** before that. _So_ long ago. I was seven. When… they- my family was raided. They. _Died._ They were blown away in front of me. I _knew_ they were dead as soon as I heard the sirens in the distance. I _saw_ the lights flashing through the window.”

 

Brainz reared his head up to Alphys, and he slowly pointed at his freak eye, the disfigurement and scars surrounding it.

“They. Shot me too…”

 

He grimaced, remembering it hurt badly.

“They shot me all _over._ I… they found me in a puddle of myself, next to my dad. I was still clinging to life… they took advantage of that and they-”

 

He squinted into her eyes, shaking his head and almost sounding like a whining dog.

“- I died _three. Times._ Alphys… _three_ fucking times. But everytime my heart stopped, they just: **brought me** **_back_ ** again. The doctors told me that I was the luckiest kid in the world.”

 

A humorless chuckle, it wanted to be a sob but he wouldn’t let it. Brainz knew to force that insincere grin on his face. He wasn’t OK, he never was when he did it. He shook his head slowly.

“I knew they were wrong. I knew that wasn’t luck, I just didn’t think it was because I was a freak of nature, it just made me feel sorry for myself. If god really existed; why would he make someone like me? Give me all the reasons in the world to want to kill myself, just to watch me writhe on… sharing my suffering with everyone else? Everyone else dies, they’re the lucky ones.”

 

He dropped his head back down, staring into his tattered hands. The things he’d done with them, the lives he smothered with them.

“I know I deserve everything that’s come to me now. I won’t blame you there… but tell me, what did I do to deserve being born like this? I didn’t even _ask_ to be born, I wasn’t even _supposed_ to be born. And then… I fuck up my life some more to find out, what; that it didn’t even _matter?_ That no matter what I did, how hard I tried. That I was going to end up like this?”

 

He was done after that, the end of his soliloquy marked by the excruciating sounding breath passed through his teeth. He sighed bitterly.

“Fix it.”

 

“What?”

 

Brainz lifted himself up to a crouch and reaffirmed his voice to her, more assertive.

“ _Fix_ it. You know so much about this stuff, you must know to fix it. So **_fix it.”_ **

 

He stood up and wiped his nose, shaking off the doom and gloom. He was still on a desperate bid to cross the entire underground and rescue Toriel with a plan he hadn’t thought of yet, now was the time to get back to business.

 

But Alphys wasn’t quite on board, she stammered and reminded Brainz how nervous she really was. More so at the request.

“Now, hold on! I have nothing on how you function! Much less being able to just flip a switch and turn it off!-”

 

“ **_No no no,_ ** that’s not what I want to hear, stick me full of needles, I’ll even go into that fucking machine; I wanna be able to blow my fucking brains out when this is over. So **_fix it!”_ **

 

“I **_CAN’T!!_ ** That’s not how it works! It’s part of _who. You. Are!_ You can’t just turn it off! I’m sorry! There’s _nothing_ I can do without researching you. And I already know you aren’t going to let me, so don’t bother starting that with me, I get it.” ****__  
  


Brainz held his stance for a couple seconds but ultimately sighed. It was worth a shot he guessed… of course it wasn’t going to be that easy. He wasn’t very good at this ‘Accepting Things’ back to it, then.

“So _what_ then; am I going to have to live the rest of my life being ‘unkillable’? I literally can’t _die?”_

 

But she shook her head and even waved her claw in a disagreeing manner, this was what Brainz had hoped for when he got the picture about his condition.

“No no no, you’re not invincible. You can still be killed, of that I am positive. You are simply the most determined being ever to exist as far as monsterkind recognizes. I told you about the strain of determination on _our_ forms. But you, a human; I don’t even know how tolerant humans are but I can say that you. You shouldn’t even be _alive,_ your concentration is off the charts...”

 

She went into a tangent again, even swishing one of the red vials before her eyes as she talked about it.

“-In all my years I’ve never seen a raw sample be more _pure_ than concentrated determination. It’s like you possess enough to override the fatal effect it has. _Again._ This is utterly unprecedented. I’m not even going to bring up the fact it seems to work _completely_ segregated from your own will and _desire!_ It’s almost as if it’s _autonomous!_ I mean, _God…_ the potential outcomes to this are just _beyond_ vast!”

 

A digression, remembering one tiny detail, Alphys turned shoulders and placed a claw on her lip.

“Of course that’s only going to occur when we aren’t all facing annihilation.”

 

Brainz scowled and grumbled to himself.

“Great, because I _needed_ to feel worse about myself.”

 

She heard it, and remembered that he wasn’t happy about this, he’d just gotten over being subtly despairing over the situation. She tried to soften her voice and re approach him.

“You _really_ don’t remember anything? I mean… you didn’t necessarily have to be _born_ like this. It could’ve been the result of something happening to you. _Ahh. Er._ Maybe related to your back? Can you recall _anything?”_

 

Brainz actually tried to be respectful for once. He _thought_ about it, really trying to pick up any shred of recollection. Something he’d _have_ to remember if it was as insane as this week was. He tried and tried, but in the end; he sighed and shook his head earnestly.

“No. I _really_ don’t.”

 

Alphys then tilted her head.

“What about the date you tattooed to your arm? Despite it being trauma based, it was obviously important enough you didn’t want forget it, what happened on that night. To you?”

 

Brainz was taken back by this. Out of _nowhere,_ she shifted from something trying to be sympathetic to some interrogator trying to invalidate him. He scoffed defensively and sneered at her.

“It’s none of your business! I already told you more about that than you’re entitled to know.”

 

That wasn’t the right answer to her, and she was beginning to show her disdain to Brainz’s lack of cooperation again. Alphys crossed her arms and squinted one of her eyes to him.

“How do you know it had nothing to do with this? I just want to know what _happened_ on that day and if it could be related!”

 

Brainz growled and snapped at her, returning some of her words in a mocking manner.

“Then why don’t _you_ tell me what happened on the day of your ‘Melty Monster’ experiment?! _I_ just want to make sure _it’s_ not related! Leave it alone!”

 

He knew what he was doing was frankly mean spirited, but she started it. Alphys’s eyes widened for a moment and then sunk back down. It was a direct hit on her for sure. She stepped back again and took a sharp breath.

“Fine.”

 

They exchanged some tense but understanding glances at each other and that was it. At least it _would’ve_ been if Alphys didn’t feel the need to make a snide remark intended only for her to hear.

“To think Undyne let herself be beaten for nothing...”

 

“What was that?”

 

She’d already knew it was a mistake before Brainz even called her out on it. Alphys shut her mouth promptly. Brainz uttered with faux incredulity as he began to approach her.

“I don’t think I heard you correctly… sounded like you had something you wanted to _add.”_

 

She swallowed and stuttered as another bead of sweat running down her head was noticed. Her claws began tapping into each other nervously.

“Uhh. I-eyy.. Uhm.”

 

Brainz continued, turning his subtle aggravation into a sinister simmer of a mutter.

“Because, I’ve just been told I’m an almost immortal zombie, but if you had. _Anything else_  to add, hmm? I’d like to know.”

 

“I was just. Uh _saying!_ That-”

 

Despite everything they’d been through, blatantly pissing Brainz off with something petty was not a good idea in her head. Alphys thought of the least offensive way to word it, trying to be non confrontational.

“- if undyne knew that when she did, it may have saved some of the. Confusion!”

  
“... _What?_ What’re you saying?? Knew **_h’what?”_**  

 

It wasn’t going to matter what she said next, it already felt gratuitous just bringing that unpleasantry up. Alphys squeaked out the coveted answer.

“The Delta rune on your _back!_ She saw it during your fight and tried to _talk_ to you about it! That’s why she pulled her blows at the end before you brutally _defeated_ her!”

 

 _Now_ he was incredulous, Brainz stopped advancing on her and stood up straight. He crossed his arms accordingly as a brow rose up. It didn’t matter he wasn’t proud of what he did, but Alphys trying to _undermine_ the accomplishment? How pathetic.

“Oh really? She tell you that, herself?”

 

Of course he was being sarcastic. So Alphys observed the sordid battle, _fine._ There was no way in hell she knew this though, not even if Undyne didn’t fall into the chasm alongside a rain of burning embers. This was just a lie, but it didn’t seem to throw Alphys off seeing Brainz’s skepticism. She just corrected her lenses and found it difficult to make eye contact again.

“Uhh, _yes_ actually!-”

 

_“...what…”_

 

“-see uhh. The _thing_ is. Uhm, I uhh.”

 

“You, **_what…_ ** you. Freaking. _What...”_

Something was up, he was far too anxious to be skeptical. If she was hesitant to tell him… Brainz rose his voice regardless.

 

Alphys didn’t want this to get anymore tense or hostile, so she just up and spit it out as fast as she could.

“Undyne isn’t dead.”

  


“ **_...What??...”_ ** ****__  
  


“Undyne. Isn’t dead! You uhm… you didn’t actually _kill_ her…”

 

Somehow… Brainz instantly believed her, which made this entire deal more _unbelievable_. What sold it for him was most likely that nervous and involuntary smile that crept up Alphys’s sweating face. He could see her struggling to get rid of it.

 

As for Brainz; his lips opened to show his teeth trying to crush each each other, there certainly wasn’t a grin on _his_ face. His hands grabbed each other and they too tried to crush the other one, so much that Alphys could notice his knuckles were turning purple. Brainz didn’t do much besides strangling his own hands and making *tch* noises with his mouth, his eyes were rolling around looking at everything.

“Say again?”

 

That’s what managed to come out of him, the most nonchalant response, as if everything else didn’t quite work.

 

“Youuu. Didn’t kill Undyne!”

“ **_HOW?!”_ **

 

He snapped out of his trance immediately. Brainz ran up to her in an exasperated stupor. There wasn’t a hint of malicious intention in his actions, though he did look outwardly scary per normal.

 

Brainz believed her _so_ much, that he could feel his heart trying to burst from his skin, it was becoming manic. His own sensations didn’t know what to do. The trauma returned with a reminder of all the trouble she caused him, while the crippling anxiety anticipated more of it to come; it meant she was out there somewhere, maybe in _here_ with him. The despair tried to bring him down for his incompetence, how could he have managed to mess up _this?!_ And out of them all there was the strangest of all sensations, the one he _really_ didn’t know what to do with. Brainz could feel a sliver of **_joy;_ ** he _didn’t_ kill her… why was this a good thing?

 

He had to place both of his hands on his panicking chest. His pulse sounded like a motorcycle in first gear to him.

“Oh god… _Ohhh_ god.”

 

When his vision began to narrow, Brainz had to lean against the wall, trying to get his heartbeat _away_ from two hundred. He panted, adding a guttural noise to each one. Even as debilitated as this, he repeated himself.

“I fucked her up. _So_ hard. _Hhhow??_ What does it take. Why’re you guys so fucking inconsistent!? Jesus fucking Christ.”

 

She went to elaborate on it, for the sake of both of them.

“Well. You know what happens when a monster _diees?”_

 

That look he gave her, Alphys would take that as a permanent ‘yes’ she winced when Brainz’s eye twitched like that.

“Yes you do, ok! _Well…_ as you may know, she was still. _Not_ dust when you. When you uh, When you were-”

 

“I left her for dead on a crumbling, burning fucking bridge after I dissected her! How did she walk away from that?!”

It wasn’t like he _wanted_ to remember that, but it seemed like he _had_ to just to make sure he wasn’t going insane. The lesser of two evils.

 

“She _didn’t,_ Brainz. You made sure of that. After you left, we. We brought her back to _here_ actually.”

 

“She’s not _here_ is she???”

 

He was already reaching for his gun, turning around to watch his back. Alphys shook her head and sighed.

“ _No,_ Brainz. She left a while ago, right around the time I picked up on the soldiers coming from the Ruins. She went out to evacuate as many people as she could. You know, I was terrified she was going to try to. _Stand up_ to them! But… she told me that wasn’t on the table-”

 

A sadness came into her eyes, it seeped into her tired tone.

“- Uhm, that after what you did to her. She didn’t have a chance in hell with them. So… in a way, you kind of _prepared_ her! Prepared her for the. _Reality._ We’re all facing right now. So. It’s not _all_ a bad thing, what you did.”

 

He was sufficiently frowning, remembering his philosophy for getting what he wanted in anger and then regretting it when it was too late to take back. Brainz harmed Undyne to the point he damaged her stubborn nature beyond repair. The extent of his damage was now psychological. The worst part of this, at least to _him;_ was that this was probably extending her life if it prevented her from engaging with the military. Something Brainz did became hopelessly twisted and gnarled into something completely different in the end again… _go_ him.

 

Alphys returned to the subject.

“Anyway. Despite the damage she sustained in the fight, she was able to make a full recovery, believe it or not!-”

 

Again, he was exasperated.

“ _How… ‘magic?’”_   


She suddenly pointed at him, her unsteady smile reached a full grin and her voice slipped an octave.

“ _You_ actually!”

 

“...What?”

 

“ _This._ To be specific.”

 

She brought those damned vials out again, they clinked together in her hand. At first Brainz was tempted to raise a brow and consider if it was worth questioning… but then he got it. The disgust found its way to his face. He couldn’t manifest the proper emotion towards it and blankly muttered.

“Oh my god, you didn’t…”

 

Yep… she did, Brainz had to stifle a retch. He groaned afterwards, not many things outside of his own actions truly appalled him. When something actually did, it was _bad._ His mind was already taking advantage of him. Getting inside of people, inside of a fish.

“I think I’m gonna hurl again.”

 

While he fought to keep his stomach from turning itself inside out, Alphys went to explain it like she did _nothing_ wrong. She would feel that Brainz was being melodramatic in face of this.

“It’s not _anything_ like your perverted implications, and just FYI: I didn’t treat her with the Determination I took from your _arm._ So you can get over yourself there.”

 

Yep, it got worse, Brainz’s eyes shot open and his cheeks began to itch, he spun around.

“Where the fuck did you _get it_  from then?!! Oh _god!”_

 

It took Alphys all of five seconds to get where Brainz was going with that horrified question, _her_ eyes opened up and her cheeks accompanied them by literally glowing red. She began swinging her claws in all directions in a flustered panic.

“Oh _god_ no! I didn’t mean anything like _THAT!_ No-no-no-no _no!_ I got it from your **_BAT!”_ **

 

They were both shouting hysterically at each other, it was difficult to make out what she said. Where Brainz’s thoughts were right now seriously didn’t help fill in what he couldn’t hear.

“My **_WHAT?!”_ **

 

Alphys made a brief and frustrated yell, she began swinging her arms wildly, trying to simulate a batter.

“Your **_BAT,_ ** the **_BAT!!!_ ** The **WEAPON!!!** The thing you BROKE ON HER _HEAD!!!_ ”

 

Oh.

 

Brainz ramped down immediately, with a little bit of irritation for Alphys.

“Oh… well _why_ didn’t you _say_ so…?  Lead me on like that, Jesus Christ-”

 

Alphys sighed in exhaustion, pulling on her collar while Brainz continued.

“-It’s still _wrong,_ but _less_ wrong. What exactly are you talking about now, the bat? It _broke_ on her thick ass skull, what about it?”

 

She did _not_ appreciate that. Her grunts for air sounded really annoyed, but she did find her composure amidst them.

“I _know._ The pieces of it were literally **_dripping_** with red, to put that into something you can understand; for determination to exist in a corporeal state like that outside of a body- I’ve never seen it like that without it being compressed in the extractor!”

 

An uncomfortable pause happened, Alphys grunted again and splayed her arms forward from her temples.

“My point is we are able to collect concentrated determination from the remains of your weapon _alone-”_   


She held up one of her claws then with a digression.

“-I’m not even going to get into the detail of asking you how your intent even managed to manifest itself like this.”

 

Good thing she wasn’t, he had no idea what that meant anyway.

 

She went on.

“And then, well this was after you left upstairs. I noticed from the footage playback that you treated yourself with what was it- Morphine Sulfate? Well, I figured you knew it would heal you in some way which was why you took it. Your intent behind it was present as well. So… if it could help you-”

 

“You injected her with red liquid you found on my bat through a syringe I already used on myself that probably had my blood and a bit of morphine in it.”

“... Well you could put it like that, I suppose.”

 

Brainz had all but calmed down at this point, he sounded pretty airy when he finished her sentence. Now, he folded his arms and looked down on Alphys more than figuratively.

“That is the most disgusting thing I’ve heard of in my entire life, congratulations. I have three questions about it now. I’ll do us a favor and omit the one where I ask you if you’re out of your fucking mind again. Save us the time.”

 

“Uhhhh. Okay?”

  


“One; that actually _worked?_ Two; the hell did you see me? I broke your big computer or whatever.”

 

“The power of determination isn’t something to underestimate, Brainz. You of all people should know that by now. Nevermind being able to nullify death, but I’ve heard of rumors that it can warp the very fabric of time and space itself. We’re talking things beyond your questionable ‘immortality’... but none of it is confirmed-”

 

She looked up to him with conspicuous intent and rubbed her chin.

“-not when we have so much more to figure out… Anywho. Yes it did! I knew it was going to get her up again, but not as fast as it _did_ and certainly not the healing factor. See. In the past, determination injections didn’t heal damage. _Yours_ did.”

 

Brainz pushed his hair back from his forehead, also catching some of the perspiration. He was back to his normal state of open disbelief.

“Jesus- _Chr_ ist…”

 

She did feel the need to roll her eyes and her head too.

“ _Wellll…_ it isn’t to say it didn’t come with _side effects._ For one; when she came too she _wasn’t-_ she wasn’t _herself,_ it was bizarre for a while. I can’t explain it, but her personality became very _rounded_ and _soft-”_

 

She had a nervous ‘Aheh’ and Brainz saw her cheeks beginning to blush again.

“- let’s just say she acted ‘different’ for a moment. But other than _that,_ she made a full recovery and when we found out about the. The soldiers. She asked me to let her out and to prep this place for refugees.”

For a moment, he was afraid to hear that Undyne was going to become a copy of him. That was something even he knew the world didn’t need. Potentially getting diluted by what couldn’t have been more than a drop of the drug itself though… more on that later. Something bothered him more than that.

“W-wait. Nevermind the disgustingness of what you did. Doesn’t this mean she’s gonna friggin _melt_ now? Did you think this _through?”_

 

He already questioned _himself_  for his urgent tone begging he actually _cared_ about her. He made sure to specify that.

“I’m not _concerned_ for her or anything, no. I-I-Iey I’m just wondering what went through you to do this especially after the little ‘tall tale’ you told me.”

 

She dropped whatever light demeanor she tried to show and went back to being grave and straightforward in the face of _him_ judging her.

“Well-”

 

She sighed.

“- you didn’t leave me with much of a _choice._ I don’t know what went through _you,_ when you did it to her.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Again, another short lived and fed up sigh.

“Well you _obviously_ didn’t want to kill her then and there, so I was left scratching my head. Did you intend to simply _maim_ her? Leave her barely alive just so she can suffer for a little longer once you left?”

 

Brainz made a disgusted scoff and got upset.

“What? _No!_ I’m not a goddamn sadist! I _wanted_ her to _DIE!-”_

 

He spluttered and stumbled on an attempt to rescind that last part, he failed and made a frustrated grunt. His fists clenched tightly.

“- I mean- _ArghNGH!_ I didn’t _WANT._ Her dead! I just wanted her to fuck _off!_ I knew she was gonna _keep_ harassing me, and I _KNEW_ I was gonna lose it! When I go that far on _people._ It usually fucking ends with them _dead!_ I didn’t want to _torture_ her, I just wanted her to **_STOP.”_ **

 

The tension had leapt again, Alphys dropped her arms in hopes to drop it.

“ _Alright._ All- _right!_ Relax, I’m not accusing you of _anything…_ _whatever_ your intention was, it left her at the edge of death and she was slipping with every minute… I was _desperate,_ I think you know what that feels like. Desperate to keep a life even if it’s not your own.”

 

The room calmed with their collective sighs. Anything follow this was just candid comments, both of them really didn’t have the will to start or maintain arguments. Alphys shrugged dolefully.

“Besides. There were. Different factors, she hadn’t fallen down already and I-”

 

“You really care about her, huh?”

 

He came out of nowhere right into her sentence with a sordid question, he didn’t even sound sure of himself when he asked it. Alphys didn’t really know what to take from this one, but the person Brainz was had begged her to assume it was snide or demeaning. She became quietly indignant and glared at Brainz.

“Yeah, what would you expect from ‘Gay Freaks of Nature’? Does it matter she’s everything to me when you’ll shun us like that?”

 

He nodded and pressed his lips together, only separating them with a ‘tch’.

“I deserved that… but [she means]  enough for you to do something insane like that, putting _me_ into her- _don’t take that the wrong way._  Yer outta your _fucking_ mind.”

 

But Brainz wasn’t done, because he wasn’t insulting her. He grasped her shoulder and snorted with a grin.

“That makes two of us.”

 

He just patted her on that shoulder and cackled humorously. 

“Ahhh geez, this week is _goin_ ta. _Shit.”_

* * *

  


“ _Well._ That took a lot longer than I thought it would. Not everyday you find out you’re a turbo abomination with magic blood.”

 

They actually left the mirror room, not before Brainz actually offered to clean up the broken glass or the red vomit; seeing all the monsters with bare feet didn’t make him feel so good about that. Ultimately Alphys would do it in the end, she looked to him as they stood in the general room.

“Are you alright?”

 

Brainz shrugged.

“How can I _not_ be? I found out I regenerated all my injuries so I can keep going! Apart from feeling like a freak, I’m just peachy.”

 

“Noted…”

 

He shook his head a bit and mumbled.

“I’ll figure something out.”

 

The room was just the same as it was before they stepped out. Perhaps the congregation of staring faces appeared more _hostile_ than before. The majority of the monsters still feared him too much to act out outside of hateful glares and glances to avoid eye contact. He was used to that anyway, it didn’t bother him… which called for something to come right up to him and fix that.

“OH MY, LOOK WHO I HAVE FOUND!”

 

Out of _nowhere_ there was this loud, _harsh_ and unnatural sounding voice with a mighty reverb to it. It sounded like it’d been synthesized by a speech computer. Brainz already knew it was directed at him before he flinched and spun around towards it.

“What the. Fffuck?...”

 

It was a robot, like an _actual_ robot. Something that for _once,_ didn’t deviate too far from the mental image corresponding to a robot. It honestly looked like something out of _Star Wars…_ but cheaper. Like a garbage can covered in buttons and dials, propped up on a unicycle. Somehow he felt he’d seen this before but his mind wasn’t in the right place for reminiscing small details. It rolled up to him, holding a microphone.

“BREAKING NEWS, BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES, THIS IS YOUR HOST; METTATON FROM MTT NEWS BRINGING YOU THE FIRST EVER INTERVIEW OF OUR ORIGINAL HUMAN! THE DANGEROUS: THE BOLD, THE _ELUSIVE,_ THE DASTARDLY; **_BAD. GUY. BRAINZ!”_ **

 

His persecution complex didn’t make appearing in front of cameras pleasant, this was something else. Brainz felt his heart sink into his stomach. It came out of nowhere and he was confused and probably about to panic.

“Wait _what?_ ‘Interview?’ what’re you talking abou- am I being recorded? What’re you do- whatta-you **_doing?!”_ **

 

He fumbled and jittered looking around for a crew that didn’t exist, the robot approached him and wrapped one of its cold limbs around his chest, it lowered its voice for just a moment.

“GIVE US A SMILE FOR THE CAMERA, DARLING.”

 

Brainz shuddered anxiously and tried to break out of the grip, he wasn’t successful which only made the panicking worsen, his voice cracked.

“ _Camera???_ NOnono- _get offa me, goddammit!_ ”

 

He struggled angrily for a moment and then yelped when Mettaton shifted and thrust Brainz towards the floor. The robot caught him right before he would hit the tile, holding Brainz off the floor by an icy gripper on his back. They held the pose for a moment, he could’ve moved but he was stunned with bewilderment.

“What the _fuck_ are you _doing???”_

 

The thing looked up to the ceiling in the most profound way possible as if posing for the camera that didn’t exist. It then turned back to Brainz. It lacked facial features and the closest thing it had resembling a face was a large grid of LEDs. The thing seemed to try to ‘whisper’ to him, but the tone of its voice made that impossible outside of knowing the intention.

“IT’S CALLED ‘POISE’, DARLING. THIS IS THE STORY OF A LIFETIME, YOU JUST MUST DO THIS CORRECTLY. SUSPENSE, ACTION, AND DRAMA!”

 

It looked away from him… towards a wall and even held up its other arm to conceal a mouth it didn’t have to whisper to people that weren’t there.

“NOT LIKE WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH OF THAT ALREADY.”

 

“Who the _fuck’re_ you **_talking_ ** to?! What the fuck is going **_on?!!!_ ** ”

 

His answer was him being pulled back onto his feet, Brainz managed a guttural yelp from it. The robot moved to face him directly, putting the microphone between them.

“IT IS CERTAINLY A PLEASURE, ON OUR LAST BROADCAST; TO MEET SUCH A PROMINENT STAR! YOU MUST BE JUST _THRILLED_!”

 

“... **_WHAT?!...”_ **

 

“HE CAN’T EVEN VOICE HIS EXCITEMENT! BUT AS WE KNOW, MY DARLING AUDIENCE. I AM IN THE PRESENCE OF A STAR MYSELF! AND THOUGH HIS ‘FOLLOWERS’ MAY BE A LITTLE MORE _UNRULY_ AND UNKEMPT, THEY JOIN US TODAY FROM AN AUDIENCE, **_ON THE SURFACE!!!”_ **

 

The exasperation took his voice away, Brainz was reduced to a meek and raspy squeak. His hands and arms were jittering uncontrollably. No real order of what to do.

“What the _fffuck_ are you _talking about???!?!??!?!”_

 

“TELL US, YOU CERTAINLY KNOW HOW TO _‘CAPTIVATE’_ YOUR AUDIENCE; DOES YOUR PRIME TIME FIND ITSELF REACHING THE TOWN? THE _CITY?_ THE **_WORLD??_ ** DARLING, WE JUST _HAVE_ TO KNOW! AND WHILE WE’RE AT IT, THIS REPORTER WOULD LIKE TO BE THE FIRST TO KNOW YOUR ELOQUENT AND POWERFUL SCHEME TO SAVE THE DAY FROM THE NEFARIOUS LEAGUE OF ‘THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ARMED FORCES’ THE NAME ALONE BRINGS TERROR INTO MANY.”

 

It was the pinnacle of occuring bullshit, being put on the spot like this somehow caused Brainz to find his composure. He frantically waved his hands in front of each other and called out assertively.

“ _NO_ -no-nununununun- _no!_ I never said- who _told_ you that I was gonna-”

 

But he was just interrupted again.

“WE’VE SEEN YOUR OLDER EPISODES AND KNOW YOUR TRACK RECORD ISN’T PRETTY. BUT IF THERE’S ONE THING I JUST SIMPLY _ADORE_ ABOVE EVERYTHING. IS A ‘BAD GUY’ WHO PULLS OFF MIRACLES AND PROVES THAT HE ISN’T SO BAD AFTER ALL. AND YOUR STORY IS JUST _SCREAMING_ REDEMPTION! YOU’VE GOT THE ROUGH EXTERIOR AND THE ROUGH PERSONALITY, BUT WHAT WE _REALLY_ WANT TO KNOW IS WHAT LIES UNDER THE PURPLE JACKET!”

Now the intrusiveness was beyond suffocating, nevermind how absolutely confused he was. Brainz was irritated. His face tightened into a scowl.

“That’s _none_ of your-BUSINESS!!!”

 

Mettaton swooped right back up to him for another ‘whisper’.

“DARLING DARLING DARLING. THIS IS SHOWBIZ, _EVERYTHING_ IS MY BUSINESS.”

 

This time, he was on the ready to kick back. Brainz put on a sly face and eased his voice to a cynical, _provocative_ tone.

“Oh yeah? _Mettaton,_ right? I know you… from the resort. Did _you_ know that I made your little slave quit his shitty job? I bet _that’s_ your business. Gave his two weeks notice when he threw your little collar to the wall and went out to get laid.”

 

He made the thing go utterly _silent_ for a whole five seconds. Mettaton completely stalled… Brainz did _something._ But then all of the lights on the robot’s screen lit up brighter than ever.

“OH-HO-HOOO I DO BELIEVE THAT IS ALL THE TIME WE HAVE FOR TODAY, BEST OF LUCK TO YOU, BRAINZ ON YOUR PERILOUS JOURNEY! AND UH, WATCH YOUR BACK, DARLING- YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT COULD HAPPEN OUT THERE!-”

 

His voice _actually_ lowered all of a sudden, to the point Brainz would be the only one to hear him. Mettaton turned them both around and muttered something, his tone had completely been dropped.

“- If I catch you alone out there, I’ll _teach_ you why I’m considered a killer robot-”

 

The lights on Mettaton’s face selectively went out until only enough were lit to make a picture. A human skull was glaring at Brainz. He regretted his sarcasm immediately.

 

Mettaton spun them both back around to the room of monsters and his voice returned to normal.

“-BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!”

 

He patted Brainz on the back a good couple of times, just hard enough to leave a mark. Brainz was standing there in his frightened stupor, unsure of what to actually do. He was fortunately removed from the situation entirely by Alphys before his thoughts would all come to the gun. She took his one dangling hand and walked him back to the secluded part of her lab. They left with the sound of calm laughter and murmuring behind them.

 

* * *

  


“What the fuck _was_ that, back there?”

Brainz waited for Alphys to do finish doing her sciency thing to close the door behind them, they had the lobby to themselves again when he did open his mouth.

 

Alphys seemed to be irritated about it too. But her disdain wasn’t directed at Brainz for once, somehow he could tell by the cynical overtone.

“That’s _Mettaton…_ he’s an entertainment robot I built. He was to help with _morale_ and the soul crushing boredom for some.”

 

She didn’t sound as prideful as she should’ve been for creating artificial sentient life, she sounded _indignant_ towards the thing. Brainz raised his brow.

“You don’t sound very happy about your achievement.”

 

She turned to him and motioned for them to keep walking.

“Well, my ‘ _achievement’_ felt he was too important and popular to even show the smallest bit of gratitude for everything I’ve done for him. Taking me for granted and leaving me behind for the most part. I don’t imagine you’d know how that feels but I’m reluctant to admit I feel. _Indignant_ at times?”

 

“Oh. I see.”

 

They were back in a familiar room, with that familiar vending machine eyeing Brainz. Alphys made a clicking sound with her tongue and went to end the subject.

“Anyway. Sorry about that. I’d go harder on him, but right now he’s the only thing keeping some people hopeful down here. He’s been at it since your… _altercation?_ When some people became frightened about you, he kept them from panicking.”

 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it-”

It really wasn’t. That brief lapse of catastrophic confusion and terror probably took another ten minutes from Brainz’s life and left him doubting his world more than ever, but he really didn’t feel like voicing that. Bottling felt like the right thing to do.

“-what’re we doing back here anyway?”

  


“I take it you don’t plan on spending the rest of your life down here like everybody else, right?”

 

He’d actually forgotten about all that, the urgency finally got his attention back and he flinched. A stressed yet hushed tone came out.

“Oh _shh_ -it! Yeah, goddammit I let all that time go. I _really_ gotta get outta here.”

 

She nodded with indifference.

“I thought so.”

 

“Is that even _possible_ though? With the power acting up?”

 

“Of _course_ it is… C’mon, have a little bit of faith in me, I can reroute what little reserves I have to the auxiliary lift in the upper lab. I’m afraid it’s going to set you back a- Ok there’s something I wanted to ask you this whole time; last time I saw you on the cameras, you’d just made it to the castle. Why did you decide to go back into the elevator? I honestly expected you to. To be. To be _done_ here already.”

 

Brainz only focused on the first half of what she said, not so much her questioning his decisions.

“The lab? That’s fine, I’m trying to get back to the Ruins anyway.”

 

She was not expecting that and got a little carried away in her surprise.

“ _What?_ **Why???** You were almost at the end! I wasn’t able to see what happened in between you arriving and falling back down here because I had to tend to the people, but… what _happened_ that made you want to go back? You realize slaying Asgore is your _only_ way out of here, right? Not that I **_want_ ** you to! But… just **_why?”_ **

 

He had some trouble coming up with a coherent explanation, it didn’t help much that he was still yelling at himself for doing this… _himself._

“It… it’s _complicated_ ok? There’s just this-”

 

He wasn’t going to say the immediate truth that he was making a B line for Toriel. Because _that_ would just make this complicated and awkward…  No, he was going to pad it out and make it look a lot less personal than it was, and that started by filling Alphys in on some things she may have missed out.

“-OK listen. There’s something goin on here, like for _real._ Beyond me and my problems… there’s something up with the military and _Asgore._ You and I both know that he’s still alive, but we don’t know _why…_ right?”

 

“ _Yes..?_ What about that?”

She was getting suspicious, gradually catching on that something was wrong. Brainz had a subtle vibe to how he explained things like some hushed conspiracy theory. He was certainly on for unintentional sensationalism to garner sympathy or fear. He hunched over to mutter to Alphys and only her, despite them being alone in the room. It was just a habit.

“I was about to take him out, I mean I was _right. There._ Looking into the throne room. _Just_ as I was about to make my move, one of the soldiers started talking with someone through his radio. Get _this,_ there’s a person in the Ruins that for some reason, Asgore has this… _attachment_ to! Like, the reason he isn’t _doing_ anything or trying to fight them is because they’re tellin him that they have this person lookin at a barrel!”

 

The frown on her face worsened and came with a troubled squint, she shook her head confusedly, hushing her voice too, Brainz made it contagious to be paranoid.

“What? How does that make _sense?_ The Ruins have been empty for -”

 

She stopped herself with a finger coming to her lip.

“- no… the spiders… but still; _who?_ You _came_ from the Ruins didn’t you? Surely you _had_ to have met this person. I-I wouldn’t know anything about it because I haven’t been able to set up _any_ thing beyond the door in west Snowdin.”

 

He really didn’t want to tell her, and he already began the procession of ‘Uhhh’ it didn’t make it easy to think when Alphys was back to back with her critical questions.

“Who’s living there that is not only _that_ important to Asgore, but _also_ important to the soldiers who _somehow_ know this… and for that matter, _why_ is this person important to _you?_ You’re not telling me something here Brainz.”

 

He tried getting indignant.

“Hey, that’s not your-”

 

But she did it better.

“It’s _not_ about you this time! People are _dying_ and I’m starting to think it isn’t just mindless killing! _Who_ is it?”

 

He stammered and tried one more denial, but Alphys was hard on the pressure and pounced his insecurity.

“ _Brainz!”_

 

He spilled it.

“Her name’s _Toriel!_ Okay?! She saved my damn life when I fell down here and I _owe_ her one! I don’t know what’s up with her, but she obviously didn’t tell _me_ something about her-”

 

He calmed a bit with a digression.

“-I should’ve figured by now because she wears a. She has a- y’know-”

 

He tried tracing the shape of what he was talking about on his chest, but the conclusion came before he’d have to fail at that.

“- a _delta_ rune! Yeah, so there’s something up here. But _whatever_ it is, it doesn’t mean she deserves to be held _hostage_ by the goddamned government!”

  


Alphys stared at him bug eyed, managing to blink a couple of times before going static. Brainz kept looking at her and diverting his gaze nervously, he didn’t like that look.

“.. _.What_ …”

 

“Wow.”

 

“Not _this_ again… **_What!...”_ **

 

“You actually care about somebody other than _yourself._ I was _not_ expecting that.”

 

Now _that_ was too far, his old inhibitions with her fell silent when the need to defend himself came up. Brainz felt his cheeks tightening up again and the flustering took effect.

“ _Hey!_ I was doing that _long_ before I found out she was still alive! There’s somebody else too, and _he’s_ the only reason I’m still putting up with all you jackasses!”

 

Oh no, she was smiling at him, she was _so_ smug, Brainz wanted to snap his own neck just to make it stop. Alphys did the dreaded pose of placing her claws on her hips and tilting towards him just so slightly.

“Ooohh, you have a heart _after_ all… that’s pretty bizarre though, the lady in the Ruins. I have no idea what that could mean. But who’s the other one?”

 

He took offense to the comment and shook his finger at her.

“You _watch_ yourself! And it’s not like that! I bet you’d be smug to know there’s someone _else_ who’s been screwed over down here, except he’s been too afraid to even stand _up_ for himself! That’s why he’s relying on someone like _me.”_

 

“And _who’s_ that?”

She crossed her arms and smirked at him.

“Some poor unfortunate soul who lost his friend when he fuckin fell down here and you guys ‘gang raped’ him for his damn soul. Didn’t have the mercy to just kill him though, turned him into flower instead.-”

 

He did _not_ notice that her little smirk disappeared immediately, her jaw dropped as far as it would go.  

“-Stripped the poor kid of everything he had, doesn’t even remember his own _name._ So he just goes by ‘Flowey’ because it’s easy to remember. I promised him I’d get him out of here. Nevermind what happens to me, as long as Flowey gets out, I’m fine… well, now also Toriel. Because I owe her. That’s why. Yeah. I owe her… why’re you lookin at me like _that?”_

 

Her mouth remained agape for the longest moment before she moved. She slowly closed it, but her claws began to rise towards her head. She’d held onto the top of it like her brain was about to explode. At least that’s what the expression and the awe implied. She started muttering words with their connotations presumably in her head still, but the way she voiced them it was as if she discovered something major.

“Flowey… ‘Tori’... the story. Standing in the blind spots. He was _talking_ to him… of _course!_ How could I be so _blind?”_

 

“What are you. _Talking_ about?”

 

Alphys shifted up to him, her eyes were enlarged from the mixture of anxiety and potential terror.

“I _underSTAND_ now! Oh my god, Brainz!! You’re being _manipulated!”_

 

“Huh?? By _whom???”_

 

Her claws flew outwards from her head.

“The **_flower!_ ** Flowey! He’s the one who _told_ you those lies about Asgore! About Asriel! About Cha-”

 

“Ohh, for **FUCKS SAKES.** What is your peoples’ fucking PROBLEM with this poor kid?! Why can’t you leave Flowey _alone!?-”_

 

He’d stomped the ground and splayed his arms out in his flustered and exasperated outburst, but Alphys shook her head frantically and held her palms out towards him.

“No no no! Listen, **_LISTEN!_ ** You have it all _wrong!_ He’s **_LYING_ ** to you! He’s just **_USING_ ** you to get past Asgore and get to the **_SOULS,_ ** that’s what he _wants!_ Brainz, you’re in danger! You’re just a _weapon_ to him! And _Toriel_ is-”

 

“Did you just call me a fucking _weapon?_ ”

Her frantic spiraling was cut short by a monotonous growl. Brainz’s face defaulted to a neutral glazed look. He looked over his shoulder to her and would meticulously and slowly shift his feet and turn until he was facing her directly. He looked at her and repeated himself with more emphasis.

“Did you. Just call me. A fucking. **Weapon…”**

 

She did try to take it back, to throw the blame onto Flowey, still accusing him of these horrible things. But Brainz had finally reached his limit, he saw her true nature and came to his conclusion.

 

* * *

  


His rant was two minutes going strong by the time it became ‘mostly’ coherent, his vocal chords reached their limit as well and actually failed on him. He was left croaking at a tepid volume, the hate and bitterness were still carried over.

“-fuck you… just _fuck_ you. Fuck _all_ of you, you know why Toriel is still alive? Because she actually deserves to be alive, unlike _every_ other of you ignominious bastards.”

 

He watched through his simmering fury as she tried to raise a claw, he only drew his gun and cocked the hammer.

“I don’t wanna _FUCKing_ hear it-”

 

He didn’t care to see the pain in her face, Brainz turned to the aforementioned elevator and waved the gun towards it.

“- just get the fucking elevator working so I don’t have to look at you anymore.”

 

…

 

“Ok…”

A sniffle came before the meek voice, Alphys’s personality retreated into herself as she miserably trudged down the hall of blank screens.

“This way…”

  


This was the most reluctant use of an elevator Brainz had today, even more so when he watched her feeble attempts to pry the inoperable doors open. He deliberately bumped past her and pushed her claws away from the tiny gap in the sliding doors. They ground open with some effort and he stepped into the darkness. He watched her shaking claws fumble with that tablet looking thing of hers.

“Just… give me a m-minute, I need to re-route the- p-power.”

 

He had no available sympathy for her, not even for the delicate state he;d put her in with his frustrated rampage, Brainz crossed his arms.

“Just do what’chu gotta do and get it _done.”_

 

She worked on the thing for a moment, some of the cab’s lights flickered but didn’t stay on. The buttons on the panel came into action, Brainz assumed that meant operation. Alphys opened her mouth again though, still looking down into her gadget.

“I don’t blame you anymore…-”

 

He snubbed her with a lack of a response.

 

“-I just wish I could’ve saved at least _one_ person.”

 

The guilt trip was ignored, Brainz scoffed.

“Are we _done_ here? Can I _go_ now?”

 

It made her sigh sorrowfully, she put away her gadget and wiped her eyes and nose, still looking to the floor. Her head lifelessly went to nod, but stopped before a concrete gesture of acceptance would be made.

“There’s...  there’s something I need you to do before you go up.”

 

“I’m not doing _anything_ for you.”

 

It made her look to him, her eyes were rubbed raw and sticky with tears. But she was glaring at him.

“It’s not for _me._ It’s for _you,_ and just about everybody else.”

 

“What is it…”

 

She pulled some weird doohickey from her pocket, it looked like a black wallet sized box covered in lights and indicators, she held it out for Brainz to grab, continuing even when he made no effort to take it.

“I need you to install this to my main computer-”

 

The look he gave her,

“- it’s a controller that will let me remotely access the CORE’s systems. I can’t do it from a terminal down here like I have with the cameras. My computer can remotely control the core, and this will just give me access to the computer.”

  


“But I _broke_ your computer.”

 

“You broke the _monitor._ I don’t need to see it up there because I have no intention of _going_ up there. I just need to access the computer itself."

 

“ _Why_ do I have to do this? I don’t have anymore time for your shit.”

 

She exhaled sharply and quivered.

“You’ll have even less time if you _don’t_ do this. The soldiers interrupted CORE’s sustaining protocols, without them; it’s not going to be able to regulate the power being constantly run through it. It’s going to keep building and building until _something_ happens. If I get access to the systems, I can’t guarantee I can just magically make it stop. No, that would require a direct intervention, something that isn’t happening. You do this, and I’ll be able to buy you **time…** I don’t know how much exactly, all I know is it’s more than we all have right now.”

 

He readied his one hand but was still hesitant to grab it, as if the message needed more effort to sink in; Alphys squinted and narrowed her gaze and tone.

“If you want to live long enough to even _get_ to Toriel… this wouldn’t be such a indecision. Not that you’re guaranteed to anyway, it’s _hell_ up there… it’s completely under your military’s control. You’ll have to sneak and _fight_ your way from one end of the underground to another. You won’t run into as many monsters as you did the first time around, so I guess you can revel in _that._ Even with your determination, the odds are stacked against you. Unless you plan on swimming through magma, I suggest you do this **_one_ ** thing.”

 

She dropped it into his hand. Brainz swallowed and eventually shook his head with a scowl.

“ _Fine,_ but I don’t know how your techno shit works; what am I supposed to do with this when I get up there?”

 

Alphys reached into her pocket again and brought out something with a clip attached to it.

“I could tell… but that’s what this is for.”  


“What is that, is that a _phone?_ I’m not carrying no goddamned cellphone on me.”   


“ _No,_ it’s not even that. It’s a _pager,_ you advanced enough to know about _those?”_

 

And she tossed it at him, watching him fumble with the weird device in his hands not wanting to drop either of the things. Alphys just kept talking with her hopeless drone.

“It’s the only thing capable of being reached from all the way down here, I’m the only one who’ll be able to contact you through it. You only need it so I can give you directions on installing the controller. Afterwards you can keep it or throw it away, I don’t care.”

 

…

“Okay, makes us _even_ then. Get out of each other’s faces.”

 

That was his way of confirming his cooperation, Brainz stuffed the two devices into his pockets and leaned into the one wall of the elevator. Alphys pulled out her tablet again, ready to send him off.

“A final thing…”

 

She didn’t let his rolling eyes distract her, not for this final sordid matter.

“The child is OK-.”

 

It got his honest attention through the scowling, and she knew it would. She knew very well that he knew exactly what this meant.

“-They’re safe from the soldiers, I just wanted to let you know.”

 

She tapped the screen and the doors slowly came to a close.

 

“Thank you.”

  
  
  
**34:28:07**

**34:28:06**

**34:28:05**

**...**


	14. Approaching Emergence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ᴼᴴ, ᴳᴼᴰᴰᴬᴹᴹᴵᵀ. ᴵ ᶠᴼᴿᴳᴼᵀ ᵀᴼ ᴾᴵᴸᴸᴬᴳᴱ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴰᴬᴹᴺ ᵛᴱᴺᴰᴵᴺᴳ ᴹᴬᶜᴴᴵᴺᴱ!
> 
> ᵂᴴᴬᵀ ᴱᴸˢᴱ ᶜᴬᴺ ᴳᴼ ᵂᴿᴼᴺᴳ?
> 
> ᴳᵁᴱˢˢ ᴵ'ᴸᴸ ᵀᴬᴷᴱ ᴬ ᴸᴼᴼᴷ ᴵᴺ ᵀᴴᴱ ᶠᴿᴵᴰᴳᴱ ᴬᴳᴬᴵᴺ, ˢᴴᴱ ᴬᴵᴺ'ᵀ ᴳᴼᴺᴺᴬ ᶜᴬᴿᴱ.
> 
> [🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]
> 
>  
> 
> ᴿᴱᴬᴸᴸᵞ? ᵀᴴᴱ ᴳᴼᴰᴰᴬᴹᴺᴱᴰ ᵂᴼᴿᴸᴰ'ˢ ᴱᴺᴰᴵᴺᴳ ᴴᴱᴿᴱ: ᴵ ᵀᴴᴵᴺᴷ ᵞᴼᵁ ᶜᴼᵁᴸᴰ ˢᴾᴬᴿᴱ ᴬ ᵀᵁᴮ ᴬ ᴵᶜᴱ ᶜᴿᴱᴬᴹ, ᴵᵀ'ˢ ᴺᴼᵀ ᴸᴵᴷᴱ ᵞᴼᵁ ᴰᴼᴺ'ᵀ ᴴᴬᵛᴱ ᴬ ˢᴴᴵᵀᵀᴼᴺ ᴬᴸᴿᴱᴬᴰᵞ.
> 
>  
> 
> [🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]
> 
>  
> 
> ᵀᴴᴱ ᶠᴿᴵᴰᴳᴱ ᴬᴵᴺᵀ ᴱᵛᴱᴺ ᴼᴺ, ᴵᵀ'ˢ ᴳᴼᴺᴺᴬ ᴳᴱᵀ ᴿᵁᴵᴺᴱᴰ ᴱᵛᴱᴺᵀᵁᴬᴸᴸᵞ ᵂᴴᴱᴺ ᴵᵀ ᵂᴬᴿᴹˢ ᵁᴾ. ᴮᴱᵀᵀᴱᴿ ᴺᴼᵀ ᴸᴱᵀ ᴵᵀ ᴳᴼ ᵀᴼ ᵂᴬˢᵀᴱ.
> 
>  
> 
> [🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]
> 
> [🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]
> 
> [🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]
> 
>  
> 
> ᵞᴼᵁ ᵂᴬᴺᵀ ᴹᴱ ᵀᴼ ᴴᴱᴸᴾ ᵞᴼᵁ ᴼᴿ ᴺᴼᵀ? ᴵ ᵀᴴᴵᴺᴷ ᵞᴼᵁ ᶜᴬᴺ ᴮᴱᴳᴿᵁᴰᴳᴱ ᴹᴱ ᴬ ᴴᴬᴸᶠ ᴱᴹᴾᵀᵞ ᵀᵁᴮ ᴼᶠ ᵛᴬᴺᴵᴸᴸᴬ...

 

“How can you _hear_ me anyway? I thought you said this _wasn’t_ a phone.”

**  
[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]**

 

Brainz turned from the table, squinting through the darkness and spotting the tiny blinking indicator protruding from the ceiling.

“Oh. Right, the camera.”

 

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

 

The small device in his pocket would sound off with a cheery couple of beeps whenever it had something new to say.

“Ok, gimme a sec, uhhh. _Yeah,_ I see it, looks like a small rectangular panel on the side.”

 

Before getting down to inspect it closer, Brainz took another spoonful of runny ice cream and exhaled from the cool sweetness, relief in an instant.

 

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]  


“Mm, alright. Yeah it just popped right off… _hey-”_

 

Brainz was kneeling besides the large console, having to kick some of the broken glass away from him. He suddenly displayed a degree of hesitation and leaned away from the opening he’d made into the machine.

“- this isn’t. _Live._ Right? Like it’s all dark in here; everything's off, but… it’s not gonna zap me when I touch it, right?”   
  
[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

 

“Are you _absolutely_ sure. There’s a buncha hanging wires in there, I’m gonna end up touching them.”

 

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

 

He scoffed with slight irritation.

“I’ve got _experience._ I’ve hotwired cars before, even they didn’t look as messy as _this._ I don’t even know how it _works.”_

 

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

“I am _not_ afraid of electricity… I just don’t _want_ to get shocked to death or something.”

 

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

 

Brainz wiped a long bead of sweat from his brow and let his jacket slide off onto the floor. He answered this message with an assertive snap.

“Can we just get on with this?? I wanna get outta here and your damn AC is off, it’s fucking hot in here and I can’t see for shit.”

 

Brainz had to resort to his “Oh-so Trusty” lighter to see what he was doing. He got to his knees and returned to the open computer. He was still affixed to the room itself.

“Besides, this place got _romped…_ like _damn._ They’ve been here already, I don’t know when they’ll be back… there’s _dust_ in the air.”

 

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

 

He read the instructions and began fidgeting with the guts of the computer, still continuing his small talk.

“I gotta say though; you’re pretty clever disguising the lift like a bathroom, they trashed it too, but none the wiser about the secret below… Question though; I haven’t seen a single toilet down here, do you guys even _have_ them? Or do you just use all the endless pits around here, I mean that’s what _I’ve_ been doin.”

 

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

“Ugh. I’m just trying to make conversation… whatever. Am I _doin_ this right even?”

 

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

…

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

 

“Uhhh… I _think_ I put the blue wire in? I wouldn’t fucking know because I’m _colorblind_ now, but uhh… here’s the switch. Want me to hit it or something?”

 

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

 

He made a ‘tch’ and cracked his neck. He was quite wary.

“ _Allright…_ here we go, then.”

  
He hesitantly brought his one finger to a point and slowly extended it towards the gadget, now nestled into the mess of wires. It had a fitting red button on the side, and Brainz pressed it.

 

“G _hih!”_   


He recoiled and brought his hands back to his chest when a large spark emitted from the machine at the sound of the button’s ‘click’. He nudged himself away from it.

“What happened?? Did I break it? I _hate_ computers, what do they always do this when I use them?”

 

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

  


Brainz stood up, keeping an eye on his work, still backing away.

“It works? You’re _good?_ Really? I actually did something _right_ for once?”

 

[🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬 🇵🇦🇬🇪🇷 🇦🇱🇪🇷🇹]

“Hoo, thank god. Well _alright_ then!-”

 

He returned his lighter to its resting place and clapped his hands together.

“-You uhh. You do your thing and keep this place from ‘Chernobyl-ing’ I’m gonna.”

 

He stumbled over to the work desk, all of its contents had been pushed to the floor besides the ice cream he borrowed from the fridge. Brainz finished it off with a handful of quick scoops to his mouth. He spoke with his mouth full of ice cream muffling him a bit.

“I’ma just gonna get outta here now and hope I don’t die.”

 

He finished the last of the treat and swiped his jacket and slung it over his shoulder. Brainz rolled up his sweater sleeves and gave the camera behind a salute.

“See ya.”

 

Before he reached western door though, Brainz looked at the pager in his one hand, he stood with it for a moment and his face suggested he was thinking of something. In the end, he fastened it to his jeans and went on walking.

 

“Hu- _ugh. Finally_ out of there, I wonder how much time I wasted- oof…”

 

He was at the door when he noticed the light seeping in, it was present the entire time he was working in the hazy and sticky darkness. But a closer inspection lead him to discover that it had been _forced_ open by a breaching tool of sorts, noted by the scorch marks and disintegrating metal. He was vaguely surprised, but chose to be benumb about it; raising his brows and muttering to himself.

“ _Jesus…_ well. At _any_ rate, I guess I made up for that. I just hope she’ll (Toriel) be fine when I _get_ there… she’ll be fine. She _has_ to be. She’s related to Asgore by _some_ way, and they know it more than I do.”

 

He gathered his wits, took a deep breath, and walked outside.

* * *

  
  


“ _Uulgh!_ It’s worse out here! Is it me or has this place gotten even _hotter_ than last time? What the fuck…”

 

Brainz looked around for signs of anybody else, apart from another pile of dust and brass casings on the ground, he seemed to be the only one here. Something from his observation caused him to look over the edge again, to the sea of magma below. Something about it didn’t hit him right. He distinctly remembered it having a more… _orange_ color to it. This was, granted he’d traversed this place _before_ he went completely colorblind, but something wasn’t right. All he saw was _red_ , a homogenous red pool, it looked like a mill pond made of tomato soup. Not a single ripple or sign of disturbance below… was it always like this? For that matter, he considered this to be his imagination _again,_ but it felt like the sea of lava had gotten _bigger._ No, _Closer…_ had it risen? Before, Brainz felt he would’ve had five seconds to regret his choices if he fell before he’d die horribly, but now it was more like-

“ **_Whoa!_ ** Holy shit!”

 

Brainz sprung away from the verge of the path, he’d leapt off from his footing and landed flat on his rear. He was like a startled cat, only far less graceful and agile. What had spurred this was a very sudden thunderous sound coming from below. The very red pool suddenly shot a pillar of liquid rock straight into the air like a geyser. It was as if an explosive had detonated just below the surface, shooting the stuff straight up at Brainz. It managed to reach up and beyond the ground he was on, Brainz could see the droplets arcing over the brink and landing inches before where he was. He scrabbled backwards as he watched the steam emitting from the ground.

 

When he recovered from the surprise, Brainz got up to his feet and shook his head assertively.

“ _MMmn-MMMNH!_ I. _Know_ it wasn’t doing that before. I’m gettin outta here, fuck this place.”

 

He trotted down the path, but it wasn’t long before he stopped.

“ _Awwhh_ shit…”

 

He remembered this four way junction when he came here the first time. The elevator to the north wasn’t going to bring him back to the ruins so much as back in the damn lab. Forward? He remembered the rickety wooden bridge and-

“Wait, wasn’t there a water cooler there?”

 

Maybe there _was_ one before, but as it stood there _wasn’t_ one now. The bridge too… it didn’t look the same, the scratchy and flimsy looking ropes that held it together had been ‘ _added_ to’. Someone had braided them with steel cable, the reinforcement didn’t tide well.

“Well I’m not going _THAT_ way, I know where that goes. How the fuck did they fix the bridge so fast? They had to have done it, how else would they have. Gotten… here…”

 

The southern path approached his thoughts, and he would approach _it_ in a few moments. The river that spanned endlessly in both directions… he’d seen something similar a couple of times before. One after he had that unfortunate confrontation with Gerson, and the other before he ‘dealt’ with Papyrus. It seemed ideal in thought, but there was one glaring issue with it that Brainz put to words as he descended the staircase away from the heat and put his jacket back on.

“Do I _really_ have to swim this all the way back? I really don’t want to but I don’t think I have a choice.”

 

He sighed with his bitterness turning it into a grunt and stepped to the bottom of the staircase.

 

* * *

 

“What the- who the hell’re _you??”_

 

“Tra la la. I am the riverman. Or am I the riverwoman...? It doesn't really matter. I love to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?.”

 

Well this was a definite proof for the boat theory of his, and it wasn’t affiliated with the _army_ either. But what the hell was he looking at? It was wearing a dark cloak that concealed its entire being from the hood to the where it just touched down on the aforementioned boat it was standing on. The voice was especially unsettling. Brainz couldn’t make out a single bit of tone or intent from it.

 

He felt the stupor trying to stall him, not this time; just _go_ with it. He wasn’t being _attacked_ by it, so that was good.

“Uhhh… you _do_ realize y’all are in the middle of an invasion, right?”

 

He wasn’t one to stand in the way of this thing’s plans, but he just couldn’t help himself from asking such a redundant question. The thing turned its head to look at him.

“Tra la la, the flowers in the field bear witness to the pollination of many. They care not why it continues to happen, however.”

 

He squinted in question.

“... _What?..._ ”

 

But then he shook his hands in front of him rapidly.

“Ye-eh-yi-y-you know what? I’m not gonna even gonna- you said you can give me a ride?”

  


"Tra la la. If it's hot or cold, you can count on me."

It turned back to the waters beyond it.

 

Brainz had to act in the face of his own screaming inhibitions, they always made this stuff difficult. He just wanted to be able to take when a favor was given to him and not squander it. He gave a relieved and almost incredulous sounding chuckle.

“Ohawwh, that’s _fantastic_ then! Jesus, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”

 

As he eased his tension and walked towards the boat with a friendly look on his face, a snide thought tried its damndest to come out of his mouth.

(Where the fuck were _you,_ three or four days ago?? I could’ve been _outta_ here before they even set a _foot_ down here.)

 

“Tra la la, I only bring you forward by bringing you back to where you were before.”

 

(Did he _read_ my thoughts or something?)

“Uhh, _alright!_ I. uh. I need you to bring me. _Back._ To The Ruins. I need to get there, _right_ away, can you do that?”

  


“Tra la la,The ink flows upon the paper at the will of the pen, I can take you no further than the icebox.”

  


If ever was a time he was fighting with his thoughts, Brainz was actually winning for once. He didn’t know what this meant, he was unsure and it was making him more anxious than he already was. But for once… he wasn’t going to take it out on someone else. He had to acknowledge its existence and try to work through it. So he swallowed a hard lump and took a deep breath, coming back a little uneasy but gracious.

“Uhh, _ok._ That’s fine then, _any_ -where closer is already helping me a _bunch.”_

 

He began awkwardly shuffling towards the boat, still feeling unsettled by the hooded figure, every thought concerning what was under that cloak was him telling himself _NOT_ to ask about it. He was right up to the boat.

“So do I just. Step on now? Or do I- do I have to. _Give_ you something for this? I mean.”

 

It wasn’t like he had any _money_ or ‘G’ or… wait a minute… Brainz reached into his back pocket, feeling for something undetectable when he forgot about it. His recollection was complete when he pulled out a lone gold coin. He had a moderately surprised reaction.

“Oooooh, _shit._ I _forgot_ that-that-the the _Temmie-_ uh… **_Bob._ ** Gave me this! Here! Take it, will this be enough?”

 

The figure only looked at him and his offered legal tender.

 

“Tra la la, time is merely one's perception of place in the river of life, your coin exists on your person because you are blind to the machinations which protect you.”

 

It turned back away.

 

Brainz narrowed his gaze unsurely and slowly put the coin back in its resting spot.

“Uhhh, O- _kaaay?_ You don’t want anything.”

 

Judging from the fact it didn’t even dignify that with a response, Brainz finally made himself step onto the boat, he shuddered some when it rocked in response to his weight.

(Ugh.. I _really_ don’t like water right now, I’m still a little fucked up from almost drowning in garbage a couple days ago)

 

He had something else to concern himself and the driver with.

“Hey, wait a minute- hey _buddy._ Have you seen anybody else coming _through_ this way? Like, I dunno… angry guys in camouflage? With the little backwards American flags on their arms?”

 

He felt the need to point exactly where on his arm you’d find such a scrutinized detail.

“Anything like that?”

  


"Tra la la, the minnows swim upstream, but are blind to the threat which approaches."

  


He was doing pretty good not lashing out from all the cryptic, voodoo talk. He hadn’t more than a sliver of an idea of what this guy was talking about, but at least it was passive… he thought. This one line though didn’t pass through him so smoothly.

(Is he talk’n about _me?_ And does this mean _yes?_ ... I really don’t know, but… _fuck_ it)

 

He took a deep breath and tilted his head for just a moment.

“ _Alright_ then, can you take me to the closest you can go to The Ruins then?”

 

“We’re off to Snowdin…”

With that, the boat began moving; no indication of an engine or propellers. The figure didn’t grab oars nor did the river possess a current to push the wooden thing. It just moved on its own volition and Brainz had to get over the fact that it was probably magical or alive and he’d never find out. Honestly, with how today was going; he wasn’t too affected by it.

  


* * *

  


The boat traveled down the river at a modest pace, the water itself was flat with not even any ripples ahead to prove the presence of anybody anytime soon. Brainz sat down with his legs crossed and watched the ripples parting the water from behind the boat. It felt good to actually sit down for once, not laying down from falling unconscious. All was silent, mind for the sound of displaced water and his own constant thoughts and musings.

 

Brainz was never really able to sit idle for too long. In no time he’d found himself fidgeting with his questionably functional gun; pulling the hammer back and spinning the cylinder to see how many revolutions it’d manage before coming to a stop. He soon found more interest looking at his hands rather than the weapon they held.  


Brainz ran his fingers over each other, feeling all the new bumps and ridges. He stopped when he reached his lost ring finger and caressed the stump of a digit. He sighed pensively but kept his voice quiet, he didn’t want the figure to hear him talking to himself.

“If only I knew I could could that back then… (tch). Woulda saved me some trouble.”

 

Missing finger aside, it was the scars that really got to him. Those scars, they should’ve needed layers of gauze to keep them together… but now they were just scars. He never really stopped burdening himself with the reality of what he learned in the lab, he just put all the stress aside for later. The moment was far gone though, it was just depressing now. He sighed again and rubbed his face into his cupped hands.

“Fan-fucking-tastic… I. Am. A freak… not only that, but I’m tied to this place somehow.”

 

He ran a hand under his shirt, feeling the scars on his back.

“I just don’t understand… how do I not remember _getting_ this? I would’ve had to get _somebody_ to do it for me, or- _god_ I don’t know; some kind of custom shaped metal? But even then… I would’ve felt this for _weeks_ , you _don’t_ forget that kind of pain…”

 

The tattoo with it was something else, but right now it wasn’t important. Really, anguishing over himself wasn’t too helpful. Now that he was actually making substantial progress Brainz needed to make good on creating a plan, and it’d need to be a _good_ plan because he wasn’t the sole part of it. Toriel worried him, mainly how she was going to react to everything. Getting her on board with his plan, let alone convincing her to _leave_ her home? What about the fact that he broke his promise to her?

 

“Hold on a sec-”

 

Brainz interrupted his procession of thoughts with an audible digression. He looked to his one thumb again and then he had a theory. He may have been impulsive and brash to accuse Alphys of inflicting him with these abnormalities, but maybe he wasn’t too off… Toriel had his unconscious body for twelve hours and with her ability to heal wounds to nothing but scars; _she_ could’ve been responsible for the Delta Rune. But why would she _do_ that? Why was she _wearing_ a Delta Rune herself? No… this was just paranoia gnawing at him. It wasn’t _her_ , it was _him_ \- she _couldn’t_ have done it. That made NO SEnSE.

 

_My head, it hurts…_

* * *

  


[Sea Sickness](https://youtu.be/pHNNT4EOep8)

  


**_My head is fucking POUNDING._ **

**_It fucking HURTS._ **

**_I can’t, HEAR anything._ **

 

* * *

  


It came from nowhere, his head was taken over by a dull pain that rang in his ears. It was excruciating, the worst he’d ever felt. Brainz clenched his head and keeled forward emitting a low agonized rasp. It didn’t seem to be noticed by the hooded driver, even when he gritted his teeth and the pain sound turned guttural.

 

He couldn’t take it anymore. Just when he felt his head was finally going to burst open; he heard something breaking through the ringing. The low sound of splashes in the water, one after another in a quick fashion.

He managed to look up from his suffering, needing to witness what was coming to him. There she was, playfully kicking her boney feet into the water. Not-Toriel sat between him and the hooded figure driving this boat, she turned to Brainz when he looked upon her.

 

“Ａｒｅ  ｙｏｕ ｄｏｕｂｔｉｎｇ  ｍｅ, ｍｙ ＣＨＩＬＤ?”

 

He struggled and writhed to push past the physical misery inside of his head, Brainz forced himself to answer her. His voice was strained near to being inaudible, a hushed and pained growl.

“ _Why’re you HERE? She’s not DEAD, and she’s not YOU!”_

 

The apparition seemed upset about this, a saddened whine seeped from her. It was as fraudulent as she was.

“Ｉｆ  Ｉ ａｍ  ｎｏｔ ｈｅｒ... ｔｈｅｎ  ｗｈｏ ａｍ Ｉ? Ｗｈｏ ｃｏｕｌｄ Ｉ  ｂｅ?”

 

The pulse was quickening, he felt it throbbing in his veins. Brainz hissed through his clenched jaws and shook his head against the floor. He gasped for breath with each only lasting him seconds.

“You’re not _REAL…_ you’re just a **figment** ( _EEugngh..)_ of my _imagination…_ try’na **_GUILT_ ** trip me! I know who you are… you’re not _TORI-el…._ And you **_weren’t_ ** _HER.”_

 

He closed his eyes and huddled into himself even tighter, wincing and breathing sharply; just waiting for it to be over. Her voice still found its way to him through the harsh ringing.

**“ＷＥ'ＲＥ  ＡＬＬ ＡＬＲＥＡＤＹ  ＤＥＡＤ. . .”**

 

He was suddenly hit by a gale of freezing wind that hit him straight to the bone, the same cold he’d felt in dump. The stinging cold of death lingering in the air. It _had_ to be her doing, she had to be doing this. Brainz forced his eyelids to open in the face of it all.

 

She was gone…

The figure was gone…

The boat was gone…

 

The world he was trapped in was gone. There was no river, or cave above his head. When he looked up, all he could see was gray; the radiant gaze of the moon had been blocked by the winter clouds. On either side of him there were trees. Their branches were depressed by the heavy snow, but they still reached for the sky. Some nearly scraped the clouds above.

 

He was stuck down _here_ though. A shivering, crumpled up mess of a debilitated human laying in the middle of the road. Every breath he took, he could see his life wisping into the air and then dissipating into nothingness. The ground beneath him began to rumble, it increased with the approaching presence from beyond the suffocating fog that concealed the world ahead.

 

_Not like this…_

_This is NOT how I’m going to die…_

  


Brainz put all of his dwindling might to his arm and rose it into the frigid air, he held it up as high as he could; his last stand and gesture of defiance. The beast emerged from the fog and glared at him with its eyes that emitted their blinding lights. The last thing he heard was the unearthly screech that emitted from the bowels of the thing as it approached him rapidly, it roared out right before it met him.

 

The light emerged from the fog and bounded straight for him, the large beast gave out a deafening roar right before it’d meet him, before the light would take him.

  


“Tra la la, we’re here.”

 

* * *

  


Brainz gasped and his eyes shot open. He sat up in an instant, in a moment of dizziness and confusion.

“ _Eagh!_ Wh-what?”

 

The hooded figure was looking over its shoulder at him. The boat had gone idle and the waters of the river had gone still as well.

 

“We’ve arrived.”

 

It calmly repeated itself as Brainz rubbed his head and worked himself out of the grogginess.

“O-oh, thank you. I’m sorry, I-I zoned out I think. How long did it take us to get here??”

 

He turned to the land side and saw the familiar landscape of snow and trees, this was Snowdin. He didn’t have a lot of good memories about this place, nor did he think he’d ever want to return here.

Brainz rubbed his eyes, he felt something _wet_ around his freak eye, it woke him up more as he quickly sought to find out what it was. He would’ve been hard pressed to find tears rolling down his cheek, but no. He found blood smeared on his fingers, his eye was bleeding and further investigation would show that his nose was doing the same. He didn’t have the luxury of worrying himself about that and only gave them a hushed expression of disdain.

“Doh, son of a. _Bitch!_ I don’t _need_ this shit right now!”

 

He wiped all of the red and ‘live’ blood from his face within seconds, it didn’t seem he was letting anymore than what had come out already, probably related to the migraine… much less the delusion. Brainz saw fit to stand up and dismount the boat, but his sense of hearing kicked in and caught something rather unpleasant booming through the world.

 

Somewhere… some monster had just been slaughtered by a bullet. The sound of more gunshots in the distance only suggested more were meeting a similar fate. The only thing that made this any different than the display of genocide back at the castle was that Brainz was now right in the middle of it, wearing a bright purple coat. If fate wanted to make it anymore obvious, someone would’ve painted a bullseye on his back. Well… that was kind of the case with the Delta Rune.

 

“ _Shit!_ What am I going to do? It’s a fucking _warzone_ in here, and all I have is this shitty little gun! What’m I gonna do?”

 

He asked himself that multiple times, part of him vainly hoped that it’d help him, no such luck. He became so ensnared in his own anxiety that he failed to keep it to himself and audibly asked the same question to his generous driver.

 

“What am I gonna fucking _do?_ They’re _everywhere!_ I don’t have a _chance,_ she’s gonna die and it’s gonna be all my fucking fault!”

  


"Tra la la…”

 

It responded to him, but for once it only used its little catchphrase to get his attention, this was the first time it truly acknowledged him. It got him to stop what he was doing, but it further unsettled him. The thing continued.

“The snow is falling. Stay covered to reach New Dreems-”

 

“ _What???”_

 

“-Stay in the shadows, only then can you look to your own. _Salvation.”_

 

He couldn’t retort, for as soon as the thing finished its last cryptic statement; its cloak was suddenly thrown off at Brainz. The heavy fabric enveloped him and his unsuspected reception and immediate retaliation sent him off balance and down onto the snow.

“Hey! What’re you. _DOING??”_

 

He made similar, still restrained exclamations as he struggled to free himself of the twisted fabric. At last, he threw the cloak onto the snow and turned to the river with a desperate need for an explanation.

 

But the hooded figure and the boat were gone, not even a ripple in the water…

 

All it’d left him was its darkened garb and its final riddle resonating in his ears. Brainz looked to the world beyond the closing of the dock, the gunshots still rang in the distance… everything was out in the open, exposed and vulnerable. Everything but the trees, creating their own pockets of darkness inside their canopies. Brainz took one look at the treeline and then at the discarded cloak.

 

**34:03:01**

**34:03:00**

**34:02:59**

**...**

  
  
  



	15. Dead Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ᴼᵛᴱᴿ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴿᴵᵛᴱᴿ ᴬᴺᴰ ᵀᴴᴿᴼᵁᴳᴴ ᵀᴴᴱ ᵂᴼᴼᴰˢ, ᵀᴼ ᴳᴿᴬᴺᴰᴹᴼᵀᴴᴱᴿ'ˢ ᴴᴼᵁˢᴱ ᵂᴱ ᴳᴼ;   
> ᵀᴴᴱ ᴴᴼᴿˢᴱ ᴷᴺᴼᵂˢ ᵀᴴᴱ ᵂᴬᵞ ᵀᴼ ᶜᴬᴿᴿᵞ ᵀᴴᴱ ˢᴸᴱᴵᴳᴴ, ᵀᴴᴿᴼᵁᴳᴴ ᵂᴴᴵᵀᴱ ᴬᴺᴰ ᴰᴿᴵᶠᵀᴱᴰ ˢᴺᴼᵂ!
> 
> ᴼᵛᴱᴿ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴿᴵᵛᴱᴿ ᴬᴺᴰ ᵀᴴᴿᴼᵁᴳᴴ ᵀᴴᴱ ᵂᴼᴼᴰˢ, ᴼᴴ, ᴴᴼᵂ ᵀᴴᴱ ᵂᴵᴺᴰ ᴰᴼᴱˢ ᴮᴸᴼᵂ!   
> ᴵᵀ ˢᵀᴵᴺᴳˢ ᵀᴴᴱ ᵀᴼᴱˢ ᴬᴺᴰ ᴮᴵᵀᴱˢ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴺᴼˢᴱ, ᴬˢ ᴼᵛᴱᴿ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴳᴿᴼᵁᴺᴰ ᵂᴱ ᴳᴼ.
> 
> ᴼᵛᴱᴿ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴿᴵᵛᴱᴿ ᴬᴺᴰ ᵀᴴᴿᴼᵁᴳᴴ ᵀᴴᴱ ᵂᴼᴼᴰˢ, ᵀᴼ ᴴᴬᵛᴱ ᴬ ᶠᴵᴿˢᵀ-ᴿᴬᵀᴱ ᴾᴸᴬᵞ;  
>  ᴼᴴ, ᴴᴱᴬᴿ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴮᴱᴸᴸˢ ᴿᴵᴺᴳ, "ᵀᴵᴺᴳ-ᴬ-ᴸᴵᴺᴳ-ᴸᴵᴺᴳ!" ᴴᵁᴿᴿᴬᴴ ᶠᴼᴿ ᵀᴴᴬᴺᴷˢᴳᴵᵛᴵᴺᴳ ᴰᴬᵞ!  
> ᴵ'ᴹ ˢᴼ ᵀᴵᴿᴱᴰ ᴼᶠ ᵀᴴᴵˢ ᵂᴼᴿᴸᴰ
> 
> ᴼᵛᴱᴿ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴾᴵᴸᴱˢ ᴬᴺᴰ ᵀᴴᴿᴼᵁᴳᴴ ᵀᴴᴱ ˢᴺᴼᵂ, ᵀᴼ ᵀᴼᴿᴵ'ˢ ᴴᴼᵁˢᴱ ᴵ ᴳᴼ  
> ᴵ ᴿᴱᴹᴱᴹᴮᴱᴿ ᵀᴴᴱ ᵂᴬᵞ, ᵀᴴᴱᵞ ᴬᴸᴸ ᶜᴬᴹᴱ ᵀᴼ ᴾᴸᴬᵞ ᴺᴼᵂ ᵀᴴᴱᵞ'ᴿᴱ ᴬᴸᴸ ᴹᴵˣᴱᴰ ᵂᴵᵀᴴ ᵀᴴᴱ ˢᴺᴼᵂ
> 
> ᴬᵛᴼᴵᴰᴵᴺᴳ ᵀᴴᴱ ˢᴼᴸᴰᴵᴱᴿˢ ᴬᴺᴰ ˢᴾᴬᴿᴵᴺᴳ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴸᴱᴬᴰ, ᴬᵀ ᴴᴱᴿ ᶠᴿᴼᴺᵀ ᴰᴼᴼᴿ ᴵ ᵂᴵᴸᴸ ˢᴴᴼᵂ  
> ᴵ'ᴹ ᴳᴼᴵᴺᴳ ᵀᴼ ˢᴴᴼᴼᵀ ᵀᴴᴱᴹ, ᵀᴴᴬᵀ ᴹᵁᶜᴴ ᴵ ᴷᴺᴼᵂ. ᵀᴴᴱᴺ ᴵ'ᴹ ᴳᴼᴵᴺᴳ ᵀᴼ ᴳᴿᴬᴮ ᴴᴱᴿ ᴬᴺᴰ ᵂᴱ'ᴸᴸ ᴳᴼ

“Okay. Stick to the shadows. Calm your breathing. Take it slowly.”

He went into the trees. His newly acquired garment proved it could compliment the darkness within the tapestry of low hanging branches. It completely concealed him from the outside world, even shrouding his face in shadow. How did he get set up like this again? He’d been given a plan right here and then by the figure and didn’t even know it until it was too late to thank them. This was the best shot he had… even though the cloak smelled like burnt marshmallows inside. How did the thing  _know_ to do this? 

 

[It's falling...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMX3aVbNdvo)

 

There it was again… another punctual gunshot ringing out over the others, another dead monster. The crack of it was closer to him than he thought, maybe ten or twenty yards into the trees that lined what used to be a village. Brainz took his time to traverse through the branches and knee high snow drift, every sound he heard outside of his own would cause him to stop and crouch down for a full minute. A full minute with nothing to do but wait and _listen_ for the sounds of yells in the distance followed by strings of automatic gunfire. The only thing that kept him from despairing was his mission to save Toriel from all this. He _had_ to do it.

 

Another shot echoing through the land, it sounded like it was coming from _above_ him now. Brainz creeped towards the sound that rang out, to where the trees ended just to take a peek. There was a brick building standing between him and the outside world. It had a dumpster beside an inherent back entrance along with a ladder that lead to the roof.

 

Suddenly footsteps came from beside the structure. Brainz didn’t have time to figure if he was deep enough into the shadows so he just crouched down and fought to stave off the gnawing anxiety while the steps approached. 

 

The footsteps grew closer, he could hear the snow crunching under boots. They came right up to him it seemed, and then stopped… He didn’t make a noise, he grabbed his gun and managed to cock it without an audible sound. He pointed it in the direction of the footsteps and was about to feel the trigger of his weapon for the first time, when the footsteps started once again and began walking away from his spot. He didn’t dare move his head to see until he heard the distinct sound of ladder rungs being climbed.

 

He caught only a glimpse of the soldier before they cleared the ladder and walked onto the roof out of sight, but he could still hear them. A young sounding man.

“Hey, how’re you faring up here? Oof, it's  _colder_ up here."  


The other voice on the roof, was barely audible from where Brainz was. It sounded feminine.

“What do _you_ think? I’ve been up here since we surveyed this place,  _yeah_ it's cold; I can barely feel my fingers."

 

“Yeah? Well don't worry I don’t think anybody else is having much of a good time either… how many have you terminated?”

  
“...Twenty-Three. They don’t even see it coming, I guess that’s more ‘merciful’ but what about you, how many have you taken down?”

 

Some things came into fruition by this point. The lone and spaced out shots were the product of a markswoman stationed on the roof. She atoned for the loudest of the gunshots, some monster would be dead before they knew they had sights trained on them. As for the building itself, Brainz recognized the shape and size as the tavern he’d entered with Sans a long time ago. ‘Grillby’s’. If he ever emerged from the trees he'd have to ensure that the building was nowhere in sight or he’d end up with a hole in his head before he could even express the proper profanity with being spotted.

 

The male soldier who climbed up answered her, he sighed before he did though.

“I killed. _Twelve._ Dumbass monsters and whattaya know. Not _one_ of them fought back… this sucks.”

 

The sniper seemed to agree with his overall disdain.

“Who. _Ordered_ this damn operation anyway?”

 

The one soldier buzzed his lips.

“The _captain_ won’t tell us, he doesn’t tell us _anything_ besides our orders at the last second. But lemme tell you, this? I didn’t sign on for this shit… _Monsters?_ Sure, why not? Getting a chance to put one in Omega? Hell yeah. But _this??_ This just isn’t right…"

 

Was this remorse he was hearing? Was that even possible? Other people showing their otherwise ‘too little, too late’ feelings on the matter, it almost made them worthwhile to Brainz. Yet he knew that it wouldn’t matter in any length, orders were orders and these loyal dogs were obedient to their master. It was the same old shit every time.

 

The sniper sounded just as disinclined. 

"Orders are orders..." 

 

Brainz saw a form mounting the ladder and descending again, he hid his face again and listened.

“I just want this be _over_ with already, doesn't matter this is probably the  _easiest_ thing we've ever done... I'm gonna have fucking nightmares for the rest of my life. I don't even know how the counselling for this is going to go."

 

The sniper called out as the footsteps neared Brainz and grew more distant again.

 

“This is what we _trained_ for, Drew. Killing a family of bunnies and putting a society of indigenous and hopeful people to extinction...."

 

The sarcasm in her tone was obvious, but the underlying despair in it wasn't. After this encounter though, there was nothing left for Brainz here. He waited a couple more minutes for anybody else to come by and then he resumed his slow crawl through the brush.

 

Every thought he’d have for himself would sound off _only_ to himself again. When he actively needed to, Brainz could spare talking to himself… what with his _other_ inner voice having gone AWOL since days ago… there wasn’t much preventing him from hearing his own desired thoughts.

 

(Where am I even _going…_ I don’t know how to get out of the town because I never _walked_ in here. God- _dammit_ Sans! This is why we don’t take shortcuts! Because they end up bending you over a table later! I swear to god, if you haven’t been blow the fuck away already; I’m gonna _kill_ your ass!)

 

He started to make an exasperated grunt, but he caught himself and covered his mouth.

(* _Sigh*_ Jesus christ, even when he’s far gone he’s still fucking with me… I just gotta hope this place is as linear as the rest of this world…)

 

He trekked on and shuffled through the snow.

 

…

 

(Ohhh _fuck…)_

 

Thirty minutes of paranoid and tedious crawling and Brainz reached the end of the trees and all they did to conceal him from the genocide. The town limit was here too, denoted by a large ornate sign fitting for a christmas set. He emerged from the trees but hid behind it.

 

_WELCOME TO SNOWDIN._

 

The many christmas lights decorating the sign had gone out…

 

But now as well as the trees ceased, the path ahead had narrowed significantly. With no cover and chasms on either side of it; he’d have no choice but to be completely in the open.

* * *

 

He really _didn’t_ have to do this…

It was suicide…

He had no way of knowing who was further down, how many of them were…

* * *

 

(No… I’m _done_ festering for once, if I go out and I die? Then I’m _dead_ and that’s it. If I don’t die? Then it just means I can keep going to help her… I’ve had enough of being afraid of what I don’t know…)  

 

His inhibitions and impulses for preservation screamed at him, but for once; he chose not to listen to them. Brainz gave a quick look to the ransacked town behind and got up from from

where he was, about to make his move.

**[Incoming Pager Alert]**

 

He almost made an audible surprised cringe when he heard the jingle. Brainz scrambled to get the small device off his makeshift belt and into his hands to find a silence button. He ended up putting it close to his face so he could whisper angrily into it as if it was a phone.

“ _Whatta you want?!”_

 

What Alphys on the other end _‘wanted’_ to do, was inform Brainz that.

**GO, NO SOLDIERS THAT WAY ATM**

 

He didn’t know how to take that, one of the voices screaming at him changed its tune and was singing a tale about how Alphys was just trying to get him killed.  The sound of the distant sniper rifle made him flinch, reminding him of what he risked by staying here and doing nothing like he just told himself he wouldn’t do. He whispered to the pager still forgetting it wasn’t a phone.

“You better be right about this, I _swear_ to god…”

 

* * *

  
  


“Oh my god. _Oh_ my god, oh my god oh my god oh my god I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

The vulnerable feeling was at its worst, but _something_ made him more terrified when he saw the only way to go: another rickety, shoddy looking bridge. He looked down alright, and saw a drop of at _least_ five hundred feet to a forest of at least fifty acres. He didn’t even try to take it slowly, Brainz ran across that bridge as fast as he could.

“Jesus Christ! How big _is_ this place?”

 

As he hurried along the swaying thing, he noticed there was something besides trees standing on the ground beneath. It was too dark down there to make it out fully but it looked like a huge pile of debris… from _where_ though? He looked up to the cavern ceiling to see the remains of some kind of large machine affixed to the stalactites. It looked like it’d passed through an asteroid field it was so full of holes.

(What the ff-uck happened _here?....)_

 

As unsettling as it was, he was mostly glad he missed the show.

 

When he made it to the other side, he felt he could revel in it for a moment.

“Holy shit, I’m still alive! I’m on a roll, I might actually have a chance to- _ohhh_ shit what is that?”

 

Being he’d never come this way, backtracking it was going to be a process. Every room was going to be a new discovery. This one had a dog house amidst many piles of snow and a legion of bootprints.

 

Thankfully for him, it was empty, but a monster dog would’ve been the least of his concerns. The tracks in the snow though… they were a double edged sword if he ever recognized one. The soldiers all came from The Ruins, so the path of the most dense groupings of prints would lead him straight to the door. On the other hand, they helped him none in deciphering how many people were still back there, he’d only get to find that out firsthand. Or from the ever so helpful royal scientist yelling at him from her little bunker.

 

He recited some agreed upon ‘final words’ to himself-

“Don’t have to worry if I’m dead.”

-and he walked towards a cluster of dead trees just ahead, it was what the mass of boot prints lead to. He could see all sorts of colors of lights coming from it, but his speculation wouldn’t go far when he noticed the clutter of glow sticks sticking out from the trees. Some of them had lost their glow, they’d been here for a while.

  


To ensure he’d keep his resolve, Brainz chose to think of the little things. One being the fact his tracks would be indistinguishable from the lot of them, he was wearing combat boots too.

(See? Another reason I prefer to wear these. They’re uncomfortable as fuck and they give me the _worst_ blisters, but _man_ are they resourceful)

 

Into the narrow passage of dying lights.

“Whoa-wh-whoa, shit! It’s slippery!”

 

He almost succumbed to a patch of ice lining the passage, but managed to stay on his feet because he was assisted by a line of tarps that had been placed over the majority of the ice floor. The military was obviously behind this, but it wasn’t to say they were behind _this_ particular one, not now at least. Somehow though, Brainz disturbed the trees with his presence enough that some of the snow perched above their branches fell onto him. Even with the hood up, it was uncomfortable at the very least. He emerged while shaking it off of him.

“Beeugh… where am I _now?_ ”

 

Well there was more ice, at least he assumed there was under the massive tarps that had been laid down in here too. The trail of mass travel told him to keep walking forward…

 

“A guard booth?”

 

He could remember seeing a couple of those when he first stumbled through here.

“I must be getting closer.”

 

As expected, the booth was empty, he only spared a quick thought as to what became of the occupant-

“Ow! _What_ the?”

 

-but his foot kicked into something heavy laying on the ground in front of it, he stopped and bent over to take a look at it. He merely squinted at it; whatever it was, it was mostly concealed by what he _hoped_ to be snow… but it was too powdery to match the heavier and packed snow that spawned in this place. He scrunched up his face when his curiosity made him pick it up, he got vanquished monster on his hands and under his nails.

“ _Euullgh_ this is so nasty… I think I’m gonna be sick- why am I _doing_ this?”

 

The thing was _heavy_ and rather unwieldy, but as the dust slid off, Brainz discovered what he was holding.

“What is this, some kind of _shield? Yeah,_ it’s a shield.”

 

It had a Delta Rune engraved on it and everything, though it was also compromised as it had been perforated and was covered in bullet holes. He imagined a grim a recreation of how the wielder put too much faith in this thing… hopefully their death was a surprise and they didn’t suffer much.

 

“Yeah… ulgh…”

Brainz knocked on the emblem a couple times and gently placed the shield back to the ground, he lightly kicked some of the surrounding snow back on top of it.

“Well _this_ is depressing…  I better get going.”

  
...  


“What. The hell?”

 

Next room, no ice but there certainly wasn’t much snow or footprints either. It looked like someone had installed a bunch of glass stained tiles into the ground, for Brainz all he was seeing was various shades of gray and the mess of melting snow tracked onto the fitting from the various bootprints. He was able to walk over it just like everyone else did, nothing happened. It raised the question as to what was _supposed_ to happen, but he had other things to ponder with currently.

 

Next room.

  


“Ok, what’s this?”

 

The elephant in the room sought to cut off Brainz from the rest of it, literally. There was a line of spikes protruding from the ground, reminding Brainz of the spikes put in to regulate traffic through a parking lot. What was their purpose _here?_ They were barely a foot high from the ground, anybody could just step over them and it looked like the military wasn’t satisfied with doing just that. The majority of the spikes had been defeated by means of brute force, judging by the deformed housings and signs of damage to them.

 

Honestly… in the end? Everything started to look similar to Brainz, like these rooms and their layouts were picked from a template.

 

Rooms with spikes and giant switches in floor all connected by narrow wooden bridges. He couldn’t forget the occasional piles of dust trying to blend in with the snow either, one room had _lots_ of those; a giant pile of dust being analogous to a mass and shallow grave full of rotting corpses. It didn’t matter the lack of blood and entrails, it was still harrowing to witness, for some reason all this would make him feel sick to his stomach. He couldn’t linger on anything for too long, he was still in danger nevertheless.

 

This sameness didn’t get to last for long though…

  
  


At this point, any of his thoughts were kept under his breath, he didn’t need to refrain from uttering a sound, but he still didn’t want to openly talk to himself. In this case, he expressed apprehension in regards to something rather unanticipated.

“The hell?”

 

There was a pair of tables in the middle of the room, just standing there out in the open. Their contents had been spilled onto the snow; an archaic looking microwave that was clearly broken now and a-

“Is that a plate of _spaghetti??_ **_Why??_ ** ”

 

He figured the two things were obviously correlated, but for what purpose he had absolutely no idea and didn’t care enough to sit there until he thought of one. Besides, the spaghetti had been there for a _long_ time it seemed; the noodles looked rock hard and the sauce had congealed into red kind of slush.

“Ew.”

 

He sighed and kept on following the trail of bootprints.

“I’m never going to understand this place… _nobody_ is now.”

 

Next room.

 

“Hmm… there’s a hole in the ground.”

 

There was more than that, someone had dug all the snow out in a large area leading to the hole, it made Brainz think of golf for a moment. He kept going and noticed a pair of guard booths just off the beaten path, they were also empty. He didn’t feel the need to investigate.

 

Next. Room…. Just keep walking.

 

He passed through another section of ground covered with tarps and then made the first stop completely derived from his own will.

“Hey… wait a minute, this room looks familiar.”

 

For once that ‘familiar’ feeling was actually credible. Brainz stepped into it and became more sure as he looked at the surroundings. He nodded sternly to himself.

“Yeah, I _know_ this room, I’ve _been_ here before.”

 

The last time he’d found himself here, he slipped on the ice and fell flat on his face. Even though the ice had been mostly covered by even more tarps… the leaked residue that had resulted from his bloody nose was left untouched. It didn’t matter it was days old, the stuff was _searing_ red. At least he knew  _why_ now.

 

Being here again… he felt a strange and _uplifting_ sensation coming over him. How ironic that days ago when he stumbled through this place far less the wiser than he was now; that he began to feel the scratching of hopelessness when he saw a pair of skeletons waiting for him in this very room. When he felt an exit was just beyond the corner and that he’d be long gone before anyone could care about him… those were simpler times. All he could spare for emotion was shaking his head disdainfully.

“If only I knew what I was in for… I **_would’ve_** fucking turned back.”

 

He stood where he was for just a little longer than he really should’ve, but a small part of him assumed if he waited enough; he would’ve been greeted by that smug deep voice… _the same part almost ‘hoped’ he would._ Hoping Sans would come and harass him some more... boy he was not in a good place right now.

 

* * *

 

But nobody came… well, not until he heard voices coming towards him and he snapped out of it.

“ _Oh!_ Sh- _hit!.. Uhh!”_

 

Brainz surveyed the room in a panic, looking for what he’d do. Well… there were _trees_ again. They surrounded the boundaries of _this_ room above all others. Of course they weren’t too far off from the sudden fifteen foot drop to the lower level of the ravines that surrounded the entire area, but that was more of a _risk_ as opposed to certain death when the soldiers would spot him standing out in the open.

 

Into the cold and sap oozing embrace of the branches he went. He didn’t have enough time to burrow himself in very far and Brainz ultimately had to plant himself where he was when footsteps started becoming audible. By the sound of them? There were multiple people and they were all _running._

 

He lowered his head and covered his mouth to muffle his breathing. A conversation was picked up mid sentence. Somebody sounded like they were anxious too, not nearly as much as Brainz was but still.

“- _hoooly_ shit. Look at this place! I thought the fucking goat lady was enough.”  


Another voice, commanding and aggressive, but also retaining a degree of anxiousness.

“Marvel at it later, private! We gotta go STRAIGHT through this all the way to the hot junction!”

 

Somebody sounded a little weary.

“ _Ohh_ my god, we barreled through the entire ruins section, how big _is_ this place?! How much further do we have to-”

  


He could hear all their gear and equipment shifting as they proceeded _right_ in front of where he was hiding, the worst thing he envisioned could happen would be if suddenly he heard someone shout.

“Wait-w-W-W-WAIT! _STOP!”_

 

All the sounds came to a halt mere feet away from him.

( _FUCK,_ **_FUCK, FUCK!!!! I’m so FUCKED!!!)_ **

At least he was going out partially on his terms, Brainz thought of the worst thing that could happen and it did. It didn’t surpass his paranoid fear, it hit it right on the mark. He prepared himself to go down shooting and drew his gun. He was about to throw the hood off to get the first shot on them.

 

But then someone spoke again, sounding calm, albeit slightly out of breath.

 

“Gotta be careful here… someone from Pincer almost _fried_ himself right here, see the tarp? Suspect the ground was live or something, but the guy found something interesting or something and when he went to pick it up, he got zapped.”

 

“Oh you’re shitting me, they _booby trapped_ the place?? Did it _kill_ the guy??? Did _Brainz_ do it????”

 

“Ni-n-n-nn-no, not that. We really don’t know, but I’m just saying to be careful. Use those insulated boots of yours.”

 

The aggressive voice boomed in again, impatient and brash.

“Alright, let’s go- we gotta **_go!!_ ** I gotta escort you; Flint, Pendulum, and then the third reserve through the entire cave!”

 

The footsteps began again, starting right off to their damn hurry. The sweat beaded from Brainz’s chin, his eyes were drying up from how wide they were peeled and unable to blink.

 

**[Incoming Pager Alert]**

He screamed at it, in his head of course. His body frantically scrambled to silence the fucking thing, leaves would rustle and his struggle would sound off as he thrashed in the cloak.

 

Somehow after strangling the thing, it shut up. He was able to panic solely over the people who could’ve heard it now and when he focused back on that to listen for them surely advancing on him; nothing… There was nothing, not a sound over his rampant pulse in his ears.

 

Were they gone? Did they seriously not hear that and were already far outside of earshot? Oh no, he wasn’t going to screw himself over like Alphys just tried to. It didn’t matter how much of a damn hurry he himself was in; Brainz stood there near motionless for an extra ten minutes of nothing happening before he even peeked from his dark hood.

 

They were long gone… what were they in such a hurry for anyway? 

 

An almost pained sounding sigh would come out of him before he emerged from the cold and sticky tangle of branches. He shook some of the pine needles and spluttered from the sap stuck to his face. Afterwards, he realized he was allowed to be quite agitated and brought the pager to his face.

“What the _fffUCK_ was so goddamned important that you had to-”

 

But he wouldn’t get to finish his frustrated hiss when he got to read the message.

**WATCH OUT, SOLDIERS COMING FROM THE RUINS.**

 

Somehow he didn’t give in to the urge to chuck the thing over a cliff and just promptly fasten it back to his pants. He looked up to the cavern ceiling and brandished a finger.

“Thanks for the heads up, ass- _hoole…_.”

  


He went back to his trek, grumbling miserably to himself as he trudged.

“ _Fuckin-_ idiot monster trying to fuck me over- got enough problems already.”

 

No, he didn't really think she was actively trying that. But he was angry and couldn't take it out on the fact it was just a coincidence from her still trying to help him for some strange reason. Why exactly? They were even, that's what he said they would be at least. 

 

Whatever...

 

At least he was still going, funny enough; the last time he was here he was running for his life from a sword wielding dog. He didn’t get much of an opportunity to take the room in, with its useless directional sign sticking out of the ice and what looked like the messy carcass of a snowman in a small outlet. At least he hoped that was a pile of snow and not something else. Please no one tell him.

  
He kept walking, undoing the progress he once made against this world. Every one of his steps felt much more meaningful even as he willingly walked into what could’ve been his demise. Days ago, he wanted nothing more than to leave this place and all associated with it behind… but now?

 

**_*crunch*_ **

 

He paused when his footstep made a different kind of crunch in the snow. Brainz looked down to see a bunch of crumbs spreading out from under his boot. When he lifted it off, he was looking at some kind of large milk bone or something. It looked like it had been burned or smoked, it only rose a question of who was doing _what_ at the time of their premature death…

 

He managed to answer some of that when he noticed a particular looking guard booth a couple steps further… with a pile of dust spreading out in front of it. He already knew who that pile used to be, he even heard that arrogant voice calling him out from within the booth, even as his memory was already chipping away.

 

_Wise guy eh? Alright, we’ll see if you’re still moving after this!..._

_C-mon already! Let’s go, give me your best shot!..._

  


He never thought he’d feel an inkling of sympathy for that stupid blind dog, but now… he was feeling all kinds of horrible seeing all the bullet holes and splintered wood of the guard booth.

“I only wonder if he saw it coming…”

 

* * *

  


Then there was the poorly made ‘guard booth’ again, with its titling done in crayon.

 

**YOU OBSERVE THE WELL-CRAFTED SENTRY STATION. WHO COULD’VE BUILT THIS, YOU PONDER…  I BET IT WAS THAT VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN. (NOTE: NOT YET A VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN).**

 

He was having a very hard time remembering the infuriating ego he had to deal with when he first walked here. All he could recall was childlike demeanor and misunderstood notions, it made the entire situation that had befallen Brainz and Papyrus feel terribly tragic. But… he chose not to dwell on it and just made a single chuckle devoid of emotion.

“S’not even a. Booth. Just a refrigerator box…”

 

He knew what he did, he _shot_ him. But did he survive? What did Alphys tell him, or was it Undyne before he brutalized her? Speaking of which, where _was_ she anyway? For some reason, Brainz wasn’t inclined to believe by any stretch that she could be among the lingering piles of dust he passed. She somehow survived _him,_ but the military?

 

Whatever… not like it mattered right now. Brainz walked away.

 

A shiver found its way throughout him, causing him to huddle into himself a bit and tighten the grip on his two coats.

“Hoooo… is it me or is it even _colder_ here now? Fuck…”

 

An unfriendly but brief gale blew through the passage, it felt like pine needles stabbing into his face.

“Jesus _christ…_ I was having an easier time when I just wore a _sweater!..._ What the fuck is going on here?”

 

Hey look… the self aware box, long time no see! Judging from the ransacked look of it, it must’ve enlightened every enlisted man and woman who came this way about the duality of boxes and empty space. Too bad they didn’t seem to appreciate it as much as Brainz had. Although, he failed to notice before that there was a river just off the path. He grunted at it.

“Why do I get the impression that this would’ve saved me so much trouble if I realized it before?”

 

What did the weird boat driver say? He could only take Brainz back place he’d been? How could it have known he’d never discovered this particular bank on the water?

“Forget it.”  


 

He was close now, here was the first guard booth he saw, when he reluctantly hid in it from Papyrus at the discretion and amusement of his far more insufferable brother. Brainz walked up to the vacant booth and rested his hand on the sil. A p

“What happened to you anyway… where’d you _go?”_

 

Like Undyne, he really couldn’t fathom that Sans succumbed to the invasion just like that, there was no way. Knowing him, he was probably tormenting some poor private and making their squadmates question their sanity… that seemed like him. Why did he care anyway?

 

"I  _don't_ care, I just wanna know..." 

 

Funny enough, Brainz almost mistook the ketchup stains all over the inside of the thing for bloodstains. As if…

Oh, look at that; the lamp Sans put so much emphasis on- _and_ someone broke it, wonderful. What a good analogy; before Brainz came here it was fine, now it was broken. Why was he making a metaphor out of a lamp, and for that matter why was it making him feel worse about everything?

 

Just keep moving.

 

He was _so_ close now, the long and narrow path lined with the congregations of dead trees. The very first step on the stretch into hell. Brainz began to jog down the path, trampling over the stream of bootprints.

 

The bridge, he didn’t even slow down to cross the shoddy looking structure where he first met Sans, the memory of almost falling to his death was the most prominent one regarding this cold place.

 

Brainz produced his handgun as he drew closer, he was _this_ close and was in no way allowing all of his efforts to go to waste by a soldier emerging from the Ruins and taking him down with one fell trigger pull. He was _ready_ for them. He ran and ran until _finally,_ after days of clawing and suffering… he was back to where he started.

 

The door.

 

Brainz had started running so fast that he didn’t slow down sufficiently and collided with the massive door. A resounding dull **_*thud*_ ** coursed through the forest. For a moment, he just stayed there with his face and arms splayed flat against the thing.

 

A laugh began to come over him, a nervous yet absolutely pleased kind of laugh that forced him to smile as cold sweat ran from his forehead.

“ _Aahh..hu-hu-huh-huhhhhh-”_

 

He was _quivering_. Brainz took a deep breath and whispered to himself and the massive and final barrier between him and his goal.

“-I _made_ it… _again!_ I can’t believe it, I actually went through hell and _back_ with **_everyone_ ** wanting to kill me! _Aheh… Ahehe-heh-heh-heeeeh!”_

 

It was the happiest Brainz had ever been down here, maybe in a _long_ time. He actually felt genuinely happy for what he accomplished. It didn’t matter that it meant he’d have to double back with a slew of death and destruction awaiting his second trip. Right now, everything was going to be OK.

Well, _almost._ The one thing he had left to do now was to finally answer the burning question he’d pushed down for so long. Finding out if his gun worked by putting a round into each of Toriel’s captor’s heads. He’d finally find out, and in the worst case; he would die there and then with her. Brainz spent minutes preparing himself for what he was about to do. Now wasn’t the time to succumb to dread, it wasn’t the time to stutter, it was time to do something insane and unbelievably stupid. His specialty, only this time? He was doing it for her… and doing it for Flowey.

 

“Let’s do this.”  


He cocked the gun and pulled on the door handles.

 

**_But they wouldn’t budge, the doors were locked._ **

 

**31:42:31**

**31:42:30**

**31:42:29**

**...**


	16. Goatmom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ｉ ｐｒｏｍｉｓｅ Ｉ ｗｉｌｌ ｔａｋｅ ｇｏｏｄ ｃａｒｅ ｏｆ ｙｏｕ ｈｅｒｅ.  
> Ｉ ｈａｖｅ sｏ ｓｏ ｓｏ ｍｕｃｈ ｆｏｒ ｙｏｕ...
> 
>  
> 
> Ｗｅ'ｒｅ ａｌｌ ｍａｄ ｄｏｗｎ ｈｅｒｅ...

There were three resounding bangs against the door.

“ _TORIEL!_ It’s _me!_ Open the door!”

 

Three more would follow before he shouted again, this time disregarding the need to stay quiet even more as the anxiety grew.

“It’s _ME._ Brainz! **Open** the _DOOR!!”_   
**  
** Three final impacts sounded off in vain desperation before he came to the conclusion she wasn’t going to let him in.

**_“FUCK!_ **

He barked, minding the echoes of his frustration traveling down the path but caring none for it. Brainz turned away from the door and drooped his head into his hands, every motion he’d do would look like he’d been put on fast forward. He angrily asked himself his own rhetorical questions.

“Why _would_ she come to the door? She’s only being held and _gunpoint!_ And now I just gave away that I’m _here!_ Good job, Brainz. **_JESUS CHRIST.”_ **

 

He growled furiously and began pacing back and forth with his hands still keeping his head from exploding.

“What’m I gonna do what’m I gonna do? The fuck am I gonna do? What the _fuck._ Am I going to **_do?!”_ **

 

He stopped and placed a hand to his chin, Brainz tried a whole new approach without the expletives and audible fear in his voice. He hushed himself but still hurried his words.

“Okoko-k, think-think-think… how’m I gonna get-in? Uhhh think think think think _think-”_

 

His left leg jittered restlessly, his body _wanted_ him to move.

 

One moment of his torrent of quick handed thoughts had him consider trying out the revolver on the door handles, but he lowered it just as he raised it.

“ _No,_ that won’t work. _Shit!”_

 

Brainz jittered and trembled some more, the anxiety was beginning to evolve to full terror and despair, thoughts of what could’ve been befalling on Toriel assaulted his mind. They were _tormenting_ her just for being associated with him. She was suffering and it was _all._ His. _Fault._ There was nothing he could do… and ‘ _she’_ made sure to revel in it. He didn’t even have to smell the scent of death in the air to know who was waiting for him.

* * *

 

“Ｏｏｏｈｈ  ｄｅａｒ, ｙｏｕ  ｃａｍｅ _ａｌｌ_  ｔｈｉｓ  ｗａｙ ｆｏｒ  ｉｔ  ａｌｌ ｔｏ ｂｅ ｆｏｒ   **ｎｏｔｈｉｎｇ.”**

 

_**Ignore her.** _

 

“Ｈｏｗ  ｄｏｅｓ ｉｔ  ｆｅｅｌ ｔｏ ｂｅ   _ｓｏ_  ｃｌｏｓｅ  ａｎｄ ｔｈｅｎ  ｆｏｒ ｉｔ ａｌｌ  ｔｏ ｃｏｍｅ ｔｕｍｂｌｉｎｇ  ｄｏｗｎ”

 

_**Just IGNORE her!** _

 

That sickly sweet and sultry voice whispered into his ear, he could feel the tepid air coming from her disgusting maw.   


“Ｉｔ’ｓ  ＯＫ... Ｉ ｋｎｅｗ  ｙｏｕ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｌｅｔ  ｍｅ ｄｏｗｎ ｔｈｅ ｍｏｍｅｎｔ  Ｉ ｓａｗ ｙｏｕ, ｊｕｓｔ ｌｉｋｅ  ｙｏｕｒ ｎ-”

* * *

 

“I _got_ it!”

 

The phantasm was ousted just as quickly as she appeared when Brainz emerged from the episode with a hopeful idea. That thing couldn’t stand hope, she _hated it._

 

Brainz was almost manic he was so bent on his new plan.

“I got it, I _got_ it!”

 

With a decisive motion, Brainz brought out his last military grade explosive. The grenade was taken from his pocket and held out in front of him. He found himself staring at it.

This weapon cradled in his hands, his ace in the hole. He’d carried it for a _long_ time and it had witnessed some of the worst aspects of his life. Its intentions had shifted from ending the lives of a police department; to snuffing his own life in a hail of smoke and shrapnel, and then going so far as to mean to destroy the king of all monsters? This thing of almost _messianic_ proportion, was he now going to  _squander_ it on something as trifling as blasting through a door?

 

It wasn't squandering to him. Brainz took a couple steps back and ran his finger through the safety pin and separated it from the lever for the last time and watched it fall into the snow. His grip was the only thing keeping it from exploding now, the last time this applied was when he was knee deep in garbage about to turn it on himself.

 

He brought the grenade closer to his face and whispered to it like a dear child.

“I’m sorry bud, I wanted to shove you up Asgore’s ass too, but I need to help her.”

 

He pressed his lips to the cold metal and gave the grenade a small kiss before he wound his good arm back to throw it. And then… he hurled it with an effortful grunt.

 

**_*KCh-inG!*_ **

 

The lever sprung from the body as the grenade coursed for the door. Brainz turned and ran for the other direction as fast as he could. Without any visible cover around, he’d have to rely on being fast enough to escape. It wasn’t even the blast he was concerned with but the unhindered trajectory of the shrapnel.

 

When he heard the clack against the surface of the stone, Brainz dove for the ground and covered his head with his hands cupped tightly over his ears.

 

*boom*

 

The world quaked from under him and he could hear the sound of thunder through his hands. The shockwave rushed through him, lifting his jackets to the air like sails for just the moment. Then came the sensations, like tiny pebbles being whipped at his arms and legs. They were nothing like jagged bits of metal ripping through his flesh and were uncomfortable at most. He didn’t get up until the roar of the explosion was nothing but echoes running for Snowdin. Ohhh boy were they going to hear this, he knew he had no time to waste and that there was no turning back. Brainz brushed himself off and looked at the direction of the door.

 

The once ancient and imposing beast of a barrier had disappeared behind a billow of dark smoke and dust still dissipating into the air. The path before it was a mess of stone debris and miniature chunks of earth thrown out from the blast. Some of the trees had large cuts and scratches where the shrapnel struck them, but the closest trees had been singed and were partially on fire. A snow covered bush that had accompanied the door had been utterly destroyed, it was a total loss…. And the ground beneath it was sparking for some strange reason.

 

Speaking of total loss; Brainz walked up to the to crater in the ground and coughed as he fanned through the smoke, he discovered that the door was no more. The grand looking arch that housed it was crumbling and adding to the debris all over the floor. He could feel the warmer air already rushing out from the entrance to The Ruins.

 

With one final glance behind to an empty path, Brainz trotted into the darkness....

* * *

  


The air inside was harsh, downright _hostile._ It felt _so_ heavy that Brainz could almost feel something constricting his airway. It was laden with lingering smoke and clouds of coarse dust and powder which only guaranteed his coughing fit with every involuntary gasp causing more hacks.

 

And the _smell,_ it was downright **_repugnant._** It was nauseatingly fusty and reeked of age… and **_blood._** He could almost  _taste_ the iron.

 

No… it _wasn’t_ him for once, and _'she_  ' was nowhere to be seen; this smell, it was real. Then he saw it, like glimmering rubies on the ground; Brainz saw the blood on the floor. It was mixed with the spray of debris that had filled the room, but his visual affinity for red made it stand right out. Deeper from the destroyed entrance, the amount increased more and more. Droplets became long and saturated streaks of spent life. The question seared into Brainz until he found the answer sprawled out on the ground in front of him.

  


He had a brief lapse of unsurmounted horror, but it all stopped when he spotted the american flag. There was a soldier laying on his side with his uniform soaking in his own blood. He was dead, Brainz could tell by the empty stare on the man’s charred face… eyes staring into everything and seeing nothing. He didn’t even have to notice the multitudinous bleeding holes scattered throughout the soldier’s body. The force from the blast threw the body as far as it did.

 

The realization kicked in and Brainz was taken back, not by the act of killing someone, no… but the fact he did it unintentionally. He had no idea that somebody was even _behind_ the door, and well… the corpse obviously didn’t know about the grenade until it was too late. Brainz obviously missed a good show. 

“Hoo-ley. Shit…”

 

He’d never killed a soldier before… cops sure, but this? This was the _military...._ If ever a moment to remind him he was the bad guy in any scale…

 

The sound of coughing came from nearby. It all just happened next. **Six seconds…**

 

Brainz lurched down to the body, specifically to the leg holster untouched from the flame. He unfastened the strap and removed the handgun. By the time he even stood up again with the gun firmly in his grip, he’d already flipped the slide mounted safety up and cocked the Beretta M92 into action. He knew what it was the moment he went for the holster and saw the definitive hammer sticking out.

 

Seven out of the fifteen rounds he had went off in rapid succession, striking the room with brief flashes of light and filling it with the sound of multiple sharp explosions.

 

This all happened in six seconds… and he didn’t even realize what was going on until he heard the casings hitting the ground, each sounding like a tiny caroling bell. The ringing lingered in his ears and he lowered the smoking gun by the time his thoughts finally reached him.

 

There was another one, another soldier who partook in the same fate as the first one he saw laying on the ground. Only this one didn’t invest his life in that fate, only _most_ of it as he lay dazed and riddled with shrapnel on the cold floor. The red eyed monster stood over his partner’s corpse like some kind of vulture over a festering kill. The soldier tried to put every nine millimeter he had into Brainz’s back before he noticed him, but the bits of metal penetrating his windpipe killed him much faster than it should’ve. Before he even finished coughing out half of his lungs, a round punctured his forehead and decorated the inside of his helmet with gray matter.

 

Six seconds. Brainz didn’t even know what he did at first, it was like a reflex that ended when he heard the thud of the soldier’s helmet hitting the ground and seeing an identical handgun in the outstretched arm to Brainz. The soldier hadn’t even gotten to fire a single round.

 

He just killed two national guardsmen, one without even knowing or intending and the other before he even realized it. It was like an instinct… like he _knew_ this would happen, ingrained into muscle memory. He was just  _that_ good at killing people, not so much monsters... but at least he could distance the act of it to impulse. It didn't cover his reception though, he had a little more trouble putting it off. He was already on edge, and he only gave himself more of a reason for the bad feeling to worsen. His stomach felt heavy and his legs felt weak. The stolen gun felt heavier too but he held onto it tightly.

 

“Jesus… Christ.”

  


Distraction, his eyes adjusted to the lack of light in here despite being assaulted by all the dust and smoke in the air. He could see more than bloody forms crumpled on the ground, like the assault rifles laying on the ground. In fact, the first soldier still had his semi-clutched in his hands with the strap unfastened from his vest. The safety had been disengaged and a round was already in the chamber, they were ready to fire.

“Oh my god…”  


It came to fruition, their proximity to the door and their readied weapons, Brainz told himself what he feared in a disbelieving whisper.

“They were about to _kill_ me…”

 

He narrowly avoided death by unintentionally killing someone **_again…_ ** he didn’t even _need_ his anomalous and unexplained ‘Determination’ capacity to survive, not when the world confounded him so.

 

But he didn’t want to think about himself for the uptenth time because he just remembered why he blew up the door and just murdered two people.

“Fuck! They’re about to kill Toriel!”

 

He bounded off, leaving behind his two latest victims without even making so much as a second glance at their bigger guns. Brainz slid his revolver against his waist and proceeded with his new gun swinging wildly in his hand.

 

* * *

  


“ **_TORI!!”_ **

 

His frenzied breaths croaked from the back of his shredded throat. He charged down the brick passage, looking to his stamping boots to make himself run even faster. Brainz saw the second door, the last place he spoke to her before leaving her behind for the military to take. Never again he promised, but it could’ve already been too little too late.

 

He crashed through these doors and they only slowed him for a moment, he hit the corner and went right back up to full speed.

**_“TORIEL!!!!”_ **

 

The volume of his scream thinned his voice up more octaves than he’d ever thought he could even manage, his voice even broke at the end.

 

His heart was pounding furiously, he could feel the flames igniting in his chest and searing his arms and legs. Every ounce of his will was pushing him to run, overshadowing anything his aching body could even try to inhibit him with, he pushed himself into the same place he’d been so many times already.

 

_In the black morning on the face of a mountain, escaping an army of state troopers and dogs._

_On a dimly lit dock while spears made of blue and magic tried to take your head off._

_Running away from a demon of your own making, straight into a room filled with spiderwebs._

 

Maybe it was something more than adrenaline…

 

He saw the stairs, he was _so_ close! He was almost basking in the warm embrace of the home he’d once left, he didn’t even think of slowing down slightly to ensure his ascent on the stairs. Brainz was just so driven to get to her that he’d overlook his own limitations, they didn’t exist as far as he was concerned.

 

But he _did_ start to slow down… the velocity of his  absolute charge slowed to a panicked run, then to a modest _jog,_ his strides didn’t change but he just kept slowing down.  His effort didn’t decrease at _all_ , he was still giving it everything he had but his body was moving slower and slower. Everything slowed down, his manic wheezes and even his _heart_ dramatically lost their tempo… it wasn’t just him, because physics followed suit as it took so much longer for his feet to hit the ground.

 

It all became surreal just as he was about to cross the goal line, yet… he wasn’t concerned and didn’t even question it. He just continued as if in a dream with his limbs weighing nothing yet feeling like they were made of lead, all while the air had the consistency of water.

 

He gave it his all, but it wasn’t _fast_ enough. _Somebody_ was going to get there before him. Brainz saw it; like looking into a mirror, his own self beating him to the stairs. His doppleganger was barely identical to him from what he saw. But the delta rune showing from behind the tears in the shirt was a dead give away. The cloak was missing and so was the jacket, but this doppelganger had something Brainz didn’t have, an M16 swinging side to side in his arms as he hit the steps in slow motion.

 

What was this occurrence of himself? And why could he almost explain what he saw like something he did in a dream...

 

_**312** _

_It should’ve been him…_

 

Brainz watched himself take four steps with one stride, his doppleganger _should’ve_ landed the next step, but he never did.

 

**_*B-B-BLAM!!!!*_ **

 

A trio of deafening cracks followed by the sound of bells. Brainz saw himself falling forward and collapsing onto the landing before him in a cloud of red mist bursting from his back. The red ran down from the walls and the rifle hit the ground with a metallic crash. He was dead before he even knew it. He could see the last of the momentum jostling his body as it went limp and then it was gone. The stairs became empty again, his doppleganger had left as soon as Brainz himself put one foot on the steps… it was _his_ turn now. He couldn’t stop it.

 

First step; he hadn't much time to process what he'd seen... all he felt was he was going to succumb to the same fate.

 

 

Second Step, he took them one at a time, each with an unbearable gap between as his world was still crawling. He knew what was going to happen when he made it to the fourth one, he wanted to see it this time.

 

Third Step, he was halfway into the home but instead of going to the fourth step… he turned around and looked up.

 

An M16 was glaring at him as was the soldier holding it behind the railing… waiting for him. Brainz could see the whites of the man’s eyes, they stared at him with such fervor… _ferocity._

 

_***BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!!!!*** _

 

Only this time it wasn’t Brainz who fell over at the sound of bells. The soldier may have been waiting for him, but Brainz reacted faster… how could he not? He had all the time in the world to point _his_ gun right into the white of those eyes.

 

By the sound of the last casing tinkling against the ground, Brainz lurched back into reality. He tripped on his serious momentum and toppled onto the landing. His wasn’t the only body to collapse to the floor with a loud thud, but he was the only one who got back up. Brainz would hear a clatter from behind as he got up again, the rifle had fallen between the bannister and hit the basement floor… the soldier was dead.  


The first round he fired was sufficient in caving the man’s front teeth in and continuing through his mouth, through his brain, and all over Toriel’s wall. Of course this one wasn’t wearing a helmet… Brainz would apologize for the mess later, if he _could,_ but this would come around the same time he had a moment to comprehend what just happened. But for now…

 

“ **_TORIEL!!_ ** **ARE YOU IN HERE??? TORIEL!!!”**

 

He clambered up the stairs and stumbled into the home, the warm and inviting ambience that he had left behind was gone, he ran for the den with his gun leading the way.

“ **_TORIEL??? ARE YOU-_ **   _OH THANK GOD.”_

* * *

  


There she was; in the very same place he’d met her, sitting in her reading chair. His reaction to seeing her was considerably better than the first time, he almost yelled he sounded off his relief with so much passion. He spoke with such lifted energy.

“ _You’re OK!_ You **_are_ ** OK, right? Did they hurt you? Are there any _more?”_

 

She didn’t say anything, Brainz didn’t even notice because he was too busy assessing his last question. Brainz looked out the windows and into the corridor or soulless gray bricks. There were various important looking crates scattered about in there, but it seemed there was nobody currently there. A quick scan down the hallway would also come up negative of life. He would stamp back to the den and lean to peek into the kitchen before he deduced that he and her had the entire place to themselves for the time being. With that out of the way, he put his new gun away and gave Toriel his full attention all with its unbridled joy and insufficient amount of oxygen to say all he wanted.

 

“You- you don’t know _how_ glad I am to see you right now. Just- I am **_so_** happy they didn’t kill you too, I-I just-”

 

She hadn’t given him a single reaction to his presence or anything he was saying, and he _still_ didn’t notice this. He was well into a tangent, full on pacing and moving his hands and arms all over the place.

“- as _soon_ as I found out they kept you alive, I turned _right_ around and I was _right_ outside the throne room _too!_ An-an-and -I-”

 

He stopped, closed his eyes and took a very needed and drawn out breath. He came down from his manic reintroduction and noticed her stern gaze while putting on a concerned look himself.

“I’m just glad you’re alright, and we’re gonna leave this place. _Together._ I know you like this place and all, but we _really_ gotta go. Bu-bu-but don’t worry! I thought up of a plan and everything for how we can get out! It’s gonna be _me,_ you, and a friend of mine!”

 

He worked himself up again despite keeping his voice hushed, but it was positive. He was _hopeful,_ and for once; his plan had nothing to do with his own death. He was scared out of his mind for what would happen next with nothing but unsureness for the future and even his own _past_ now, but it didn’t matter.

“Tori, you could finally get _outta_ here! Through the barrier and _everything!_ Isn’t that _great??”_

 

He presented his case with both of his hands held out as if to say ‘this is it’. He really didn’t know what to expect from her when he came in, but every scenario in his head ended with her showing emphatic joy for being saved or just from getting to _see_ him again… he finally noticed her unresponsive gaze pointed at him. But Toriel would break her stillness

 

 

["You came back..."](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeG9_jfiWSE)

 

That tepid response had sobered Brainz right up.

“Toriel?... What’s wrong?”

 

She got up from her chair and looked down on him, she reminded him of how intimidating her size was compared to his, and displayed none of her sweet-temperedness to alleviate it. Toriel was aloof.

“Why did you come back…”

 

Her eyes became unpleasant to look into, like they were judgemental… but Brainz was stuck in the compulsion not to look away. This wasn’t the same soul that had rescued and nursed him back to his feet days ago. Something was wrong.

 

“I-i I came back to get you! _-”_

 

He pointed at her, his arm couldn’t steady itself as the rest of him was twitching nervously. His teeth began to chatter and his hands began to shake.

“-t-to get’chu outta here!”

  


But suddenly all that wasn’t so clear in his head anymore, something else was beginning to cloud up his thoughts. Brainz went immediately cautious and tried to sound assertive and reassuring for his and her sakes.

“Toriel. What happened? Did they do something to you?? Are you OK? Talk to me! I’m here now. What happened??”

 

She blinked willfully and persisted that monotone drone under her voice, her face never changed.

“No… I’m _not_ OK.”

 

“ _What._ **_Happened???_ ** Tori, are you _hurt?!_ Did they _hurt_ you?? Did these motherfuckers _hurt you?!”_

  


“No…”

 

They both basked in the brief silence that followed, this was the moment that Brainz noticed that the fire in the fireplace had gone out.

 

She opened her mouth again, she was so _subdued…_ and cold.

“The only one here who hurt me… is _you.”_

 

The air felt so heavy, laden with foreboding and assumption, the room would be filled with the sounds of his struggling breaths. The way she delivered that line, it was like a bullet piercing into his spine. The concern was full blown and open, with muddlement tearing holes in his composure for the unknown to seep into and chill his very being. He couldn’t spare not to be upfront.

“Tori- what the _fuck_ are you talking about…”

 

She didn’t answer him, instead she began to walk right in front of him, paying him absolutely no eye contact now.

“They told me you would be coming back for me…”

 

“ **_WHO_ ** did??”

 

She stopped dead in the center of the front hall and turned her gaze to the soldier filthying her floor with his blood. An arm slowly outstretched towards it.

“Private Eeneyae, his friends, the people you **murdered…”**

 

**_Murdered?…_ ** the air was so tight… he was starting to feel lightheaded, he couldn’t even say anything because he just couldn’t get enough air. The hyperventilations started again, not here… not now. She saw what was becoming of him… it was like it provoked her to keep talking, why was she _doing_ this? Not Toriel… not her, no.

_No…_

No.

Nno

No.

 

“They told me…”

 

Brainz was petrified, he couldn’t move. He was rooted to his spot, watching in terror as she had her back to him, he saw her tremble for a moment and heard an audible sniff, before she spoke again.

“They told me stories, Brainz… Horrible. _Horrible_ stories. _Things…-”_

 

A quivering breath, and then her tone slipped showing the true emotions she’d tried to hide behind that unfeeling gaze. She sounding like she was in grevious pain, and still not ready to believe it.

“-Things I   _*never*_ fathomed that I’d have to bear to imagine in all my years of worry and fatigue… Things I _couldn’t_ imagine no matter how hard if I even _wished_ to _try.”_

 

Her voice’s integrity continued to degrade, faltering under quivering breaths and stifled sniffles.

“I told them, ‘No, these terrible things couldn’t be true, that I saw into you, you _couldn’t_ have done all those things, not the child _I_ knew.”

 

“They were talking about _me?_ What did they tell you??”

  


She still didn’t want to face him, but he saw her head shaking.

“I don’t think I could recite them… my heart can’t take it, not again."

  


It didn’t matter that she was obviously despairing from it and in dire need of reassurance and comfort. Instead of returning what she gave him at his most unsure hour, Brainz found that his teeth refused to separate.

“ _What._ Did they. **_Telll yoouuu….”_ **

  


Her feet stamped to the floor and Toriel faced him just like that, her face was just messy with smeared tears… but the rise in tension between them became mutual.

“I _know_ about all the **deaths,** Brainz! And I know that isn’t even your real _name!_ You never trusted anyone enough to tell them, even _me!”_

 

Nevermind the big picture, nevermind his plan… nevermind whatever they tainted her with… Brainz growled angrily, almost uncontrollably.

“Because everyone’s always _fucked_ me in the back! You think I’d just _drop_ that because you were _nice_ to me?? Don’t even _try_ to guilt me! What the _fuck_ did they tell you!?”

 

She seemed to tremble with fury, but still falter from heartache.

“Everything! They told me everything! All the people you _slaughtered!_ And the lies… all the lies you tell to keep everyone away… that this isn’t even special to you, you’ve been doing this for _decades…”_

 

He was utterly dumbfounded, he couldn’t believe with a shred of his being the things she was slinging at him. Every inch of his being wanted to tell her this wasn’t what it looked like, that he was being slandered. But all of him became consumed by anger, that it wasn’t her fucking business.  That she should be damned for doing this to him, despite all she must’ve been through.

“ **_Lies?!_ ** I never told you a _single_ _.  Fucking_ lie! I _told_ you I was in trouble! I _told_ you I had alot of people fucking _after_ me, that they would be _right_ down behind me! But _you_ decided to subject yourself to them and not come with me, _you_ let yourself into this.”

 

He could see her heart breaking right before him, in her eyes and utterly shocked face. Seeing him erupt like this, his claws were out and he was going for the throat. It didn’t even stop there, as his anger tapped into the epic well of frustration this place dug.

“But **_you._ ** Told me-”

 

His voice twisted and rose to a harmfully cynical and mocking tone while his fingers made the point redundantly clear with the quoting.

“-’ _Oh it’s OK, you’re not a bad guy; let me hug you and fill your head with assurances that I understand you!’”_

 

Her face tightened to the absolute end of being appalled and in shock. She was down to a heart wrenching, timid whine.

“But you. _Killed_ people… of what I sensed from you, I never felt a single bit of remorse, like you’ve distanced yourself so much from it… that it doesn’t even matter. _All_ those people... what was _I_ to you? Why did you spare _me?_ Because I’d get in their way? Was that all I was to you?”

 

It only made him angrier, he took everything she said as a personal attack on him, he couldn’t even see any other way. Brainz threw his fists down in front of him and shouted.

“You don’t know _NOTHING!_ I _had._ My reasons!!! You don’t know jack-shit! You just soaked up all the _BULLSHIT_ they told you and now you’re rooting for _them?!_ You’re _‘SUCH GOOD PALS WITH THEM?!’_ They had you as a **_PRISONER, TORIEL!!_ ** Did you know that?! They were going to **_KILL YOU._ ** No! Not even! They were _using_ you as a fucking _leash_ to keep **_ASGORE_ ** from trying to fight them!”

 

Then he remembered and completely overshadowed the second part of her questions, the thing that could’ve made it OK. Tell her what she means to you… tell her she’s wrong. Don’t do this.

Brainz pointed his accusative finger at her so fast he could’ve stabbed her with his nail. He was fueled by spite and anger. He didn’t even point to _her,_ he was actually staring at the delta rune on her robe.

“And _WHY_ is that exactly?? **_*I*_** apparently didn’t tell you enough about _me?_ But what about **_YOU?!_** Why are you related to him?? _Why_ are you wearing that _GOD-FUCKING_ sigil on your clothes?! _WHY_ are you hiding from all the other monsters and _WHY_ are you the only one who wants to _‘help’_ humans, _TELL ME.”_

 

Her face completely shifted, going full shock.

“Asgore… he’s _alive?”_

 

She’d just wronged him just how every other monster did, and her true colors were beginning to show at the bottom of her gleaming pedestal. Brainz twitched and shouted with an indignant tone.

“YES, he IS! Why is that _important_ to you?! I thought you _hated_ him… in fact, why _didn’t_ you want me to kill him… he only KILLED ALL YOUR KIDS. I don’t know why I didn't question it before, but why _are_ you vouching for his like like it means something to you?? I’m starting to think it was all _bullshit!_ **_I_ ** know what that feeling is like, and lemme tell you, I’d send everyone I know after that fucker, **_both motherfucking barrels!” What're you HIDING?!" Are you WITH him!?"_ **

 

“Look at you… they were right, you _are_ ill."

 

It wasn’t what the words suggested, Toriel delivered that response showing the most concern and agonizing care she could. It was so prominent that it was almost _pity._

“Your mind is making you think like this, you don’t even know what is real ch-child… you come across friends, b-but all you see are enemies.”

 

She choked out a lone sob but reeled it back, cusping a hand over her snout and shaking her head once more, she was down to whispering.

“I am _so_ sorry, child. I should’ve been able tell you were sick like this… I felt it when I touched you and checked your SOUL… but I didn’t want to believe it. It’s not your fault though… you can’t help it and I should’ve _never_ let you go like that… I am so sorry, child.”

 

Brainz had been standing unmoving and panting while this unfolded, his body language went from frightened and tense to openly ready to defend himself. But he just continued to wait and witness.

 

She slipped a dead sounding chuckle, a momentary snicker.

“I was a terrible mother… I’m a terrible person. I couldn’t save _anyone…_ especially _you._ Everything I’ve ever strived to do, everyone I’ve tried to help. It always ends the same… maybe I deserve what’s come to me, but…”

 

She looked him in the eyes, into the eyes of the rabid, snarling beast before her. The contempt growing behind them, it was already too far gone to save their relationship. But this next part was just needed, she couldn’t hold it back any further.

“You didn’t deserve me-”

 

What did she mean… the way she looked at him, it wasn’t ridicule. But what was it?

“-I… I, thought I was _helping_ you: not keeping you here, my book, and-and…”

 

She struggled to continue like she was on the cusp of admitting something absolutely dreadful, all Brainz could do was wait. His assumptions had already lined up, now it was just a matter of being disappointed or taken back further by something far worse. She had to get to it though, she _had_ to tell him. So out with it, as frank as she could be before the tears would take her again.

“I saw your inventory, Brainz. I saw all the malice you carried with you, I just thought if I removed some of the malice, that it wouldn’t tempt you so much. But I couldn’t leave you defenseless, so I… It wasn’t the state of your jacket that worried me, but what was in the pockets.”

 

“No you didn’t, tell me you didn’t. You did not do that.”

He began to shake, his means to process the thoughts was overloading. So much that all he could manage to output was something neutral.

 

“I relieved you of your most prominent weapons, I wanted you to learn that you didn’t _need_ them. I never meant for it hurt you… I didn’t _know.”_

Toriel was gone at this point, at least the sweet and caring monster Brainz had risked everything to get back to was. She was just as bad as everyone else now… worse. Who would’ve thought she’d bring him down the most? _He_ did… the suspicion was inevitable, it clung to his thoughts like every other paranoid tumor would and this one had been with him the moment she introduced herself. He tried so hard to ignore it… to starve it away as everything Toriel had done for him… had done _to_ him, had jaded him bit by bit. Making him confuse her actions as kind and altruistic, she was just like everyone else and now that ‘tumor’ of his? It lounged away in his thoughts, smug and engorged.

 

“You mother-fucker…”

 

Her penitent look meant absolutely nothing anymore, it brought up nothing but bitter apathy. If anything, the only one with worthwhile regrets was Brainz; for wasting his time coming back here for her.

 

_You Idiot…_

Flowey was right, for such a young kid he had so much more common sense than Brainz did. It was sickening how right he was, he only had years upon years to observe her and see her true nature. How could Brainz have not seen this.

 

It wasn’t even enough for her that she admitted her part in this trail of misery, she _kept going._ Still trying to make him feel bad with those fraudulent tears and snivels.

“I didn’t have the strength to take away your backpack, please forgive me for that. You wouldn’t have come this far if I had done the right thing, you wouldn’t have had to suffer for this long if I did. But they’re going to make it right now, please trust me Brainz. I know you’re struggling to understand, but please understand everything I did was for your own good.

 

“ **What else did you** **_do…”_ **

  


**[Incoming Pager Alert]**

 

In the midst of it all, the grating tune desperately tried to change the tone

 

**[Incoming Pager Alert]**

**[Incoming Pager Alert]**

**[Incoming Pager Alert]**

 

It begged for their attention, sounding off with each message coming right after the last. It didn’t even get so much as a glance from either of them.

 

Toriel quivered and wiped away at the blurriness in her eye.

“I can’t help you… but they _can._ Th-they want to _help_ you Brainz. That’s all they want to do.”

 

“They’re want to **_KILL_ ** me, you **fucking IDIOT!!** HOW can you be so. **_STUPID??!!”_ **

  


She braced herself for something, and then forced her mouth to speak. Toriel had put on a joyless expression and tried to push the misery away.

 

“You need to be stopped, Brainz. For everyone’s sake, but for _yours_ as well. I told the military where you’d be if you hadn’t left already, I told them how to get there the very quickest way… they’ll save everyone, including you.”

 

So that’s how they got there before he did… he would’ve wanted to admit he knew this would happen. But really, he never same this coming, which made it get to him all the more. Toriel was never on his side, she was never on her own people’s side. She just wanted to see everyone to burn. If setting Brainz off wouldn’t do it, then she’d go to the military. Who would’ve thought it was her? If every paranoid voice wasn’t screaming in his head right now, Brainz would’ve blamed her for the delta rune on his back and more… but right now?

 

“You… _you.-”_

 

No words would ever portray what he felt like in this moment, but some would try… they just needed to hike over the mountainous disbelief that Toriel had cheated him so hard, that he _let_ her do this to him.

 

“-you… tin can munching;  _double-dealing,_ **_sadistic_ ** **BACKSTABBING** **_FUCK…”_ **

 

The insatiable vacuum that formed inside of Brainz suddenly caused him to take a painful and involuntary gasp. He nearly choked on it and then threw it all back out as he lurched forward.

“ **_I **TRUSTED** YOU!!!  you-BASTARD!!!!”_ **

 

He screamed furiously and spun all around holding onto his head. Toriel tried to hide from the sight of it but she made herself stand where she was and when the agonizing growls stopped, she took another quivering breath and gave her final words.

“It’s going to be OK my child… it’s going to be OK. Lay down your weapons and I will take care of you until someone comes. All your pain and suffering will be over-”

 

She choked on a sob and her voice just managed to squeak out.

“-I _promise.”_

  


_The sirens were just down the road and he could see the red and blue filling in the twilight, they were already on their way…_

 

“YOU MOTHERFUCKER, YOU’RE **_DEAD-”_ **

 

Brainz had done what his instincts told him to do from the moment he first saw her; he removed his stolen beretta from its place and pointed it at her...

“- **I’M GONNA FUCKING-** **_AUUUUUGGHH!!!”_ **

 

But he never finished his threat; he was about to thrust the gun in her face when Toriel threw her arm forward and sent a searing light careening for Brainz. The fireball hit him right in his core and the blast sent him and the gun tumbling down onto the floor. Toriel would see it skidding away as it slid outside of his grasp.

 

Brainz made no attempt to get up, no effort to counter attack or scramble away to save his life. He remained on the floor and curled up where the attack had hit him, groaning in agony. His moans of pain creeped through every inch of the house, it was gut-wrenching to hear. He emitted low cries as he clenched himself even tighter. Toriel had gotten him just as if she put that gun to his head and fired it, she brought him into this world and in one swoop she had brought him down to nothing.

 

He just didn’t want to try anymore, not for lack of ability but from the impact of the fall he’d endured off of the hope he actually built with her. It never stopped hurting, it just was.

  
  


“I’m sorry!”

She couldn’t bear witness the debilitated heap on her floor any longer, Toriel hurried over to him wracked with more grief and guilt than ever before. It didn’t matter if she was doing the right thing, he looked so much like a wounded child laying on her floor. Hurt, heartbroken and scared.

 

“I didn’t intend to harm you! I am _so_ sorry! Ohh god, what have I done??”

 

Anxious sobbing noises croaked from her as she came and dropped down to her knees to Brainz’s aid as he continued to groan. Her instincts forced her to whisper but her voice quavered so badly.

“I’m so sorry. Child, I can’t do this- I can’t watch you in pain- _I-I,_ I’m going to help you, I- where does it hurt?”

 

Brainz shivered when she placed her large paws onto him. She tried to do as she did with him before her deception with the green. The pain was so great, that it traveled through her arms and into her. It forced her to grimace and weep even harder for what she’d done.

“(Everything I do is wrong…) I am. _So._ Sorry…”

 

Abruptly, the groaning was cut off and Brainz went still just like that. Then he spoke in a gruff drone that was barely audible but completely unhindered. He glared right into her, his eyes were redder than hers.

“ **Go. To. Hell…”**

 

**_*_ ** **ka-** **_LICK!*_ **

 

He rolled slightly off his side and exposed the prodigal revolver in his hand. Brainz pressed the rusted barrel right between Toriel’s wobbling eyes and pulled the trigger before she even blinked.

 

Well, at least he finally got to answer _something_ in the end,

The gun still worked.

  
  
  
  
**31:25:23**

**31:25:22**

**31:25:21**

**...**


	17. Unloved and Undoing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [ᶠᴼᴿᴳᴵᵛᴱ ᴴᴱᴿ] ❤ [ᴰᴼ ᴺᴼᵀ]  
> [ᶠᴼᴿᴳᴵᵛᴱ ᴴᴱᴿ] ❤ [ᴰᴼ ᴺᴼᵀ]  
> [ᶠᴼᴿᴳᴵᵛᴱ ᴴᴱᴿ] ❤ [ᴰᴼ ᴺᴼᵀ]  
> [ᶠᴼᴿᴳᴵᵛᴱ ᴴᴱᴿ] ❤ [ᴰᴼ ᴺᴼᵀ]  
> [ᶠᴼᴿᴳᴵᵛᴱ ᴴᴱᴿ] ❤ [ᴰᴼ ᴺᴼᵀ]  
> [ᶠᴼᴿᴳᴵᵛᴱ ᴴᴱᴿ] ❤ [ᴰᴼ ᴺᴼᵀ]  
> [ᶠᴼᴿᴳᴵᵛᴱ ᴴᴱᴿ] ❤ [ᴰᴼ ᴺᴼᵀ]  
> [ᶠᴼᴿᴳᴵᵛᴱ ᴴᴱᴿ] ❤ [ᴰᴼ ᴺᴼᵀ]  
> [ᶠᴼᴿᴳᴵᵛᴱ ᴴᴱᴿ] ❤ [ᴰᴼ ᴺᴼᵀ]

“ **_GRRRRrnnhGh!_ ** Su-nova  **_BITCH!!_ ** You- _ ffucking  _ **_WHORE!!”_ **

 

[Heartbreak...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ71AUNdjL0)

 

Brainz took his first step back into the snow, the air wrapped around him.

“Fucking,  **_bitch... -”_ **

 

He stopped and turned back to the destroyed entrance and yelled spontaneously.

“- I hope that  **_fucking HURT!”_ **

 

As if she could hear him, he really didn’t know.

 

When the ringing subsided. Toriel had fallen backwards and collapsed to the ground with such a thud that Brainz felt through the vibrations in the floor. He'd  gotten to his feet from then and ran away from the place without so much as checking if she still existed. He was in such a narrow minded state that he didn’t even retrieve his fallen weapon before he left, he didn’t even retrieve any of the weapons by the door he blew open. His sense and second nature didn't apply anymore, not right now at least.

 

The  _ revolver  _ though... When he questioned its functionality hours ago, he didn’t think it would work _this_ much. It was like a firework exploded in his face, the flash was beyond anything a firearm could ever create. The recoil was like a twenty gauge shotgun slamming into him, the gun went flying from his hand in the blast provided it didn’t  _ actually  _ explode… He still had nine fingers so that probably wasn’t the case. It didn’t  _ matter  _ though! All that mattered was getting away from that place and getting away from  _ her…  _ and that’s exactly what he did. Nothing else.

 

He didn't fight to curb the hyperventilations, he just let them run through him as he fell into his own head.

“I should’ve seen it coming… I  _ knew  _ it was fucked- that she would FUCK me, but-”

 

He succumbed to another frustrated anguished growl that left him clenching his head. It wouldn’t stop hurting, felt like his face wanted to burst. His throat felt like it was holding something massive under his skin. 

 

He nearly tripped over a branch that had fallen onto the path, Brainz finished it off with an angry series of stomps that reduced the thing to pieces. None of it was necessary but he couldn’t stop himself until his foot began to hurt. It was as if that branch was a long eared head.

 

He tried a deep breath to make the quivering ones stop, he just felt so angry and betrayed that he couldn’t help himself right now. 

 

**[Incoming Pager Alert]** _  
_ “What the **_FUCK_** do _you_ want?!”

 

The fucking thing wouldn’t shut up when it started during the encounter, only now did he come to the point he couldn’t ignore it anymore. That grating jingle was just making everything so much worse as it was, so he ripped it out from his pocket and put it to his face.

 

**[!!5 PENDING MESSAGES!!]**

**BRAINZ, WHAT HAPPENED??? LOST CAMERA FEED BY DOOR.**

 

“ **_Fuck_ ** you! You’re probably in on this  _ too!  _ Fuck  _ ALL  _ of you!!  _ **RNGH!"**_

 

He chucked the thing into the trees with a forceful throw and grunt, he’d never see it again. This didn’t make anything better….

 

Brainz angrily swiped both of his arms passed each other and hissed rapidly, akin to something pressurized and dangerous desperately venting its contents to keep it from exploding. 

“That’s it.  _ That’s it.  _ I’m done with monsters. I’m just gonna  _ fucking  _ kill them if I see another one. That’s  _ it,  _ I’m  **_done._ ** I’m  **_through,_ ** _ this  _ is what I fucking get.”

 

He trembled and looked to the rocky ceiling above, shouting.

“ _ This is what I FUCKING get! I fucking GET it now! You’re all fucking DEAD now, HAPPY?!” _

 

They were all going to die… he tried to convince himself he didn’t care anymore. They all deserved it,  _ she  _ especially deserved it. Part of him wanted to beat Toriel to the ground and stomp her to dust, but that same part that was so eager to make these threats knew they were empty. He knew he wasn't turning back, he wouldn't be able to fulfill them even if he  _didn't_ kill her. 

 

When he discovered his injuries were gone, the phantom pains mostly stopped... there was soreness but nothing he wasn't used to. Right now though... he had a new kind of pain situated in his chest. Like a bunch of needles found their way into his heart.  It was hurting and wanted nothing more than to inflict it on her...

 

He didn't understand, it wasn't like he  _cared_ about her or anything. For fuck's sake, he just  _met_ her. He could tell himself that over and  _over_ but it didn't do  _anything_ for him. He could feel his thoughts trying to go back twenty years ago, like he'd known her for  _that_ long. 

**I t  w a s  N O  m a t t e r....**

 

No matter,  _ no matter!  _ It was just _fine_! She didn’t  _ really  _ matter to him! This...This was just a setback. The sooner he forced his diseased brain to accept that, the sooner this pain would go away. It was as simple as that. He'd be right as rain in a few years or so...

 

But for now, Brainz leaned against one of the dead trees and slid to the ground. This is where the anger clinched; a long, loud, and miserable groan. It split into furious utterances that were growls as much as they were almost sobs. He covered his face and slumped into his arched knees while it all started to cool down into depression. Every gruff and forceful breath calmed ever so slightly. 

 

“Why did you make me do this to you? We could’ve actually been…  _ h a p p y." _

 

He scoffed, feeling quite stupid and snickering at his own sake.

"Oh wait, I guess  _not,_ because you did this to me from the beginning. You really  _are_ just like my mother now..."

 

He lost himself to a breathy kind of laugh through his nose, he trembled with every chuckle as he scrunched his eyes closed as tight as they would go. He wasn't laughing.

 

 

But _she_ was...

 

* * *

 

First came the unbearable ringing jabbing into his ears, then the smell. 

 

🇮🇹 🇼🇦🇸 **_🇧🇺🇷🇳🇮🇳🇬._ **

🇹🇭🇪🇷🇪 🇼🇦🇸 🇳🇴 🇸🇹🇴🇵🇵🇮🇳🇬 🇮🇹, 🇮🇹 🇨🇴🇳🇸🇺🇲🇪🇩 🇪🇻🇪🇷🇾🇹🇭🇮🇳🇬.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙱𝚄𝚁𝙽 **𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝙻𝙸𝚅𝙴, 𝚑𝚎** 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝙿 𝙸𝚃. 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙷 **𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙳𝙾. 𝙷𝙴 𝙺𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙼.**

 

“ **_THAT WENT JUST AS WELL AS IT COULD’VE…”_ **

 

He knew it was her even though the voice wasn’t even remotely hers anymore… better off forgotten. It had gotten louder, more deformed. The sounds of his personal damnation resonated with every word. He would've fought his own psyche tooth and nail to convince that this wasn't her... not anymore. She wasn't anything to keep from slandering. 

 

**_“_ ** **I _TOLD_ YOU I WAS ALREADY DEAD, YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD MAKE IT DIFFERENT. I KNEW YOU COULDN’T. ** **_YOU_ ** **KNEW YOU COULDN’T… YOU KNEW IT WOULD END LIKE THIS.”**

 

He looked up from his huddled self and opened his eyes.

 

It would’ve been just right if she’d never appeared again… but would she leave him alone? No, of course not. It was only going to worsen, that’s all it had been doing up to this point. Now that he’d quelled his main source of hope there was nothing keeping her away… nothing to keep her from suckling on the despair and bad feelings, engorging herself and getting more powerful.

 

Not-Toriel had grown bigger, gaining at  _ least  _ three feet over him, just to remind him of how much stronger she was than him. The cloud of smog pouring from her varying wounds had exacerbated into a consuming red void that sucked all the light around it. The wounds themselves were burning with visible crimson flames providing the haze. Her ruined attire was no longer that damning robe spanning her body, she was now adorned in a soldier's uniform. The Delta Rune would replace the American flag, all to invoke more feelings of hatred.   
  


The rotting face had one new perforation right between her eyes. Those once sunken eyes were nothing but mirrors now, all Brainz could see was the pitiful reflection of himself sitting on the ground. How pathetic he looked in her eyes, contemptible and weak.

 

There was no more holding back at her because of who she resembled. Not-Toriel had earned his contempt through and through.

 

**“** Fuck you…”

 

The mutated form didn’t matter, he felt absolutely nothing but hatred when he gazed upon the red before him. She didn’t deserve shame, she didn’t deserve guilt. Brainz had just given the traitorous bitch what she deserved. 

She just laughed disdainfully though. 

 

Brainz spoke louder to get through the laughs, he just couldn’t let them be.

“ _ Fuck you,  _ **Fuck you,** **_Fuck you…”_ **

 

She  _ howled  _ with malignant laughter, the rasps echoed off the cavern walls. Brainz covered his ears and tried to make her go away but the insidious voice continued to rise in volume. It became deafening, that she would cause the entire world to cave in if she got any louder. Brainz yelled in agony then he uncovered his head and lurched upwards.

“ **_FUCK YOOUUUUUU!”_ **

 

He yelled with everything he hand and then threw his arms for her in a feverish motion. He swung madly while he screamed in some indiscernible tongue. The laughter only began to subside when he realized he was swinging at the air and nothing else. But he could feel her presence, her voice was being carried by the wind. A mocking limerick. 

 

 

_ Little Brainzy Dumbo,running out of Breath. _

_ The end is coming quickly, wishing for your death. _

_ Maybe I’ll be nicer, and throw you once a bone. _

_ You will be as I am now… and  _ **_ever die alone…_ **

  
  


The voice let out a final laugh and began to fade away, it left behind another stain on his soul. It was just a drop in the bucket at this point, that’s what Toriel was going to be when this was all over… when it stopped hurting so much. If Not-Toriel ever returned to the recesses of his mind. 

 

The last of the deriding laughter floated into the ceiling with the red smoke, and he was alone again… No, she wasn’t actually gone. The loathing apparition was always watching him, she was going to wait for the next moment of affliction before she showed herself once more. That was the funny thing about self inflicted grudges; they were such good listeners. 

 

**_*CRASH!!!*_ **

 

“The hell was that…”

 

The anguish had to be put on hold, it sounded like something heavy had shattered on the ground besides Brainz, it was loud enough to startle him legitimately outside the acute paranoia. His own preservation would take precedence over the loathing.

 

Small chunks of ice had appeared just beside him, he wasn’t paying nearly as much attention to his surroundings as he ought to on the way here… but this wasn’t here until now. The crash only proved that, and the second one would arouse suspicion.

 

Another crash sounded off from behind him, and now there were two piles of scattered ice nearby. There was nothing to credit for their existence looking either way, so Brainz went the way of deductive reasoning and looked up.

 

He remembered the cavernous ceiling above, one of the first of his doubts about this place. Those stalactites were  _ huge  _ now that he looked harder… and glimmering. And and increasing number of them? Falling. Those weren’t stalactites, they weren’t stable, and where he was right now? He wasn’t safe. He immediately got himself moving.

 

He could hear more frozen spikes smashing against the ground as he pined for the opening in the path, more specifically the only thing with cover from this. Sans’s guard booth, still streaked with ketchup. He spared no time in climbing over the counter and crouching away from the window. 

 

Crash crash crash. More and more icicles fell, of course some of them would hit the very roof above his head making him flinch with each harsh sounding collision. They’d have to stop falling eventually… but for now he found himself sitting in the company of himself. He got his desire to be left alone as the the closest thing to a hailstorm fell atop of his shelter.

 

“What happened to you, Sans…”

 

He couldn’t jade himself with spite, Brainz would’ve been happy to see that grinning face, a distraction to all this. He almost felt a need to actually smile at the next hijink from that grinning fuck, just to see how he would react. 

 

He just wanted her to get out of his thoughts, at least for a little while. 

 

So, what now? 

All that effort of his was nothing more than an inherent waste. He risked his and even Flowey’s life and chance at escape for someone he ended up putting a gun to in the end. He still didn’t find out what her connection with Asgore was, or just about anything he wanted to know about her. It didn’t matter anymore now, she was gone… just like everybody else he ever cared for. She  _really_ took him on a ride, did she even know the amount of mental duress he went through for her? How much he obsessed and stabbed himself out of what he did to her when he was certain she had died? None of it was going to matter.

 

Flowey though…

 

It sounded like ceramic busts were being dropped on the roof, at this point. The icicles were getting  _ loud,  _ they must’ve been huge. He could see the ground in front of the booth becoming messy with melting chunks of ice. If this booth wasn't built well enough to sustain this... 

 

Flowey: of everything he withstood down here, Flowey was the only one who didn’t turn on him. Flowey still  _ needed  _ him and Brainz made a  _ promise _ he would be back to carry him out of the fray. It didn’t matter how much he hurt right now, he still had a job to do. The only reason he needed to be alive was waiting for him in a flowerpot back at Asgore’s besieged castle. So that meant he had a good reason to do  _ this.  _ A good reason not to fantasize about his death, because that would mean he let Flowey down, and god damn he was not about to let that happen.  

 

Brainz took a deep breath and as he let it out, he envisioned every thought he had for the backstabbing monster leaving him. Fuck Toriel, she brought this on herself with her ignorance. After all, she  _ did  _ save his life and that was a transgression in the end. Her efforts ultimately failed and ended up being beneficial to Flowey, at least Brainz could go to the grave knowing he thwarted her. 

 

“Okay. Okay, I can do this…”

 

A sniffle, the straggler of the lot. He nodded afterwards to himself and stood up.

“I’ve made it through this place once and back over, I can do it  _ again,  _ no more distractions… no more bleeding hearts. I know what to do, just with the added bonus of a trigger happy military running around.”

 

Nice pep talk, he gave it absolutely no enthusiasm or energy; so it was already one of his better ones. However, it seemed the world took offense to this as when he finished his sentence a low rumble began to reach his ears. It was like two gigantic boulders were being scraped together, it took no time before he could  _ feel  _ it. 

 

It was the ground, it was trembling beneath his very feet. 

 

An  _ earthquake?  _ You have got to be kidding...

 

The world suddenly juddered violently as if it had been forcefully pushed back into its notch, it made a jarring crashing sound that came from all over and it took the balance right from Brainz. He had to grab the counter just to stay on his feet. It was a terribly good thing he crawled in this booth; the tremor shook the world with such force that the sporadic fall of ice turned into a lapse of frozen death falling from above. The disturbed ice smashed against every inch of the ground outside, there wouldn’t have been any chance to survive that. Going in here was a  _ really  _ good idea. 

 

Brainz waited for the last of the falling sounds to stop, the few and far icicles that fell behind. 

 

“Of all the things that have tried to impale me, I got the  _ world  _ try’n me now? Aheh.”

 

That wasn’t funny. He was still morbidly depressed, but points for trying… 

 

He stepped out from the weathered booth and braced himself for the journey back, it was going to be a  _ long  _ walk… 

[I'm alone...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXhoD9MUDts)

  
  


Something was inherently wrong with the world this time around. The cold air didn’t so much as stick to his flesh and jab at him with those unseen needles, it felt like it could almost be  _ touched  _ it was so stuffy. It was actually quite difficult to breathe well with his lungs already performing poorly. There was something  _ else  _ though… he thought he felt that the snow covered world was even colder on the way back, but it was actually the other around. It felt like it had gotten  _ warmer _ , considerably at that. He was actually feeling a little uncomfortable wearing all these layers of clothing.

 

He tread over the tarped ice that shared the room with the self proclaimed box and noticed the water beginning to pool over it as parts sank and dipped into the ice, it was definitely melting. The falling icicles before the damned earthquake could be explained… but this was  _ fast.  _ What was that about physics and thermodynamics?

 

Another tremor shook the world around him, no drastic lurch to end this one but it still defeated some of the more stubborn icicles that clung above.

 

“This place is coming apart… I wonder if that’s what she (Alphys) was trying to tell me.”

 

He stopped walking and turned his head back to the footsteps in the slushy looking snow, he looked in the direction of the pager he threw in his anger and almost considered going back for it… maybe he was impulsive.

“No, what am I  _ saying?  _ She was probably in on it like I said before… I’m not falling for it.” 

 

_ Keep going.  _

  
  


* * *

 

“ _ Fuck…” _ __  
  


Brainz had just entered and left the acquaintance of the unappealing pasta dish on the ground when an apparent thought made him groan. The soldiers he’d taken down were using the house he just vacated as an outpost… at least that was a probable theory. The supply crates in the front ‘yard’ the doors being nearby and the entrance just outside the place. At least he  _ thought  _ the entrance was right there, Brainz never really got to explore the rest of The Ruins.

 

Anyway. It gave him something new to be anxious about, he felt certain that there were going to be more soldiers coming from there. The thing about killing people connected by radios was that doing so usually meant you’d see more of them soon. Somebody was going to discover three dead bodies and a pile of dust on the floor. 

Maybe he’d get lucky and they’d assume Toriel went rouge and killed them all before succumbing to her own injuries, that could work right? He did leave a gun somewhere near her body. No… that wasn’t going to work, they probably already warned everyone when they heard him banging at the doors; they were probably coming at him from both sides as he considered this. It wasn’t like this would really change anything anyway, like they needed a reason to persecute monsters any more. 

 

He stepped over the first set of useless 'road spikes' and squinted as he tried to see the path ahead.

 

What was going to happen with Asgore now? Brainz just killed the thing they were using to keep the monster tame. 

“Ohh noo…”

 

He grunted worriedly. If Asgore lost his shit up there, he could end up getting himself killed and effectively stranding Brainz and Flowey down here with everyone else. All the more reason to hate himself for coming back here and a little more for flat out  _ shooting  _ her. 

 

“Well what was I supposed to  _ do?!  _ She fucking attacked me! I had a reason to shoot the motherfucker in the face!”

 

No, don’t dwell on it. There was nothing he could do right now, festering over it was only going to make this more miserable than it already was. Like everything else for her, Brainz just needed to let it go. 

“I swear to god Toriel, if you fucked me… I’m going to find you in hell and make it so much worse for you.”

 

He  _ hoped  _ she was in hell at least…

  
  
  


The environment was further deteriorating. All around Brainz he could hear water dripping and trickling from the thawing trees. The breeze that had carried the frigid air through this land was gone, the air was absolutely stagnant. To make matters worse, his vision was severely impaired by a dense kind of fog mixed in with the suffocating air. To be fair though, this wasn’t a sudden occurrence, Brainz had noticed his visibility was diminishing as he walked. It wasn’t until he crossed over the weird glass tile room that he concluded the visibility had dropped to ‘0’. 

 

If he squinted really hard he could manage viewing distance of twenty-five meters at the most before everything beyond that disappeared before a wall of solid white that reached all the way into the unstable ceiling. 

 

He was in a hurry for his and Flowey’s sake, but this and the falling ice all but forced him to take it slowly. It was nerve wracking, but he had no choice. The only good thing about this was that he could take solace in the fact he wouldn’t be able to be spotted by a soldier before he noticed their footsteps and had a chance to hide. Of course, that also meant  _ he  _ wouldn’t be able to spot them either.

 

“Fucking hell this place…”

  
He muttered to himself every now and then at the immeasurable inconvenience he was faced with, but he couldn’t do much more as he found he needed to allocate most of his focus to finding his way back.

 

The populace of footsteps in the snow were almost non-existent at this point. If it wasn’t for the last group of soldiers he narrowly avoided, Brainz probably wouldn’t have  _ anything  _ to go by except the landmarks that barely emerged from the white haze around him.

 

Speaking of landmarks, he found the defeated shield again, most of the snow that had concealed it was now the puddle it was floating in. The same puddle full of diluted vanquished monster that reached up to his ankles at points.

 

The shiver climbed up his back and he gagged a couple times when it got to the top.

“Uuuggh.God…” 

 

He was going to have such a twitch if this ordeal ever ended, the smallest speck of dust was going to bring him back here. Maybe it’d become the new ‘sirens in the distance’. Brainz could  _ hardly  _ wait...

 

He carried on, Brainz was once again traversing the first room of tarps leading from the narrow passage of dead trees. He was almost back to town which was… a mixed thing to say the least. The large sheet of ice that had warranted all of those tarps was more like a pond or miniature lake with chunks of itself still floating on the surface. The tarps were more akin to a loose pool cover at this point, he took a little more caution walking over them this time. 

Hmm though, there was something  _ different  _ about the claustrophobic walk, the trail of chemlights still made it possible to see inside but somehow it looked less inviting than before. It seemed like the glowsticks had lost some of their radiance and gave the darkness more leeway, Brainz couldn’t even see the opening on the other side… was he able to do this before? 

“I… can’t remember.”

 

Whatever it was, it wasn’t worth standing here critiquing it for the rest of his life. He did have a more significant observation about it however in that the melting snow held far up above was monsooning the passage with chunks of slush and heavy water. 

 

Brainz sighed agitatedly and moved to cover himself up with the cloak, he’d hunch himself over to keep any of the splash from hitting his collar and traveling down his chest. He’d had quite enough unpleasant experiences with snow to warrant this specific course of action. He maneuvered himself through the darkness, looking down at the glowsticks. The hail of semi solid water made a slapping noise everytime it stuck his back, it felt like water ballons were being hucked at his backside.

 

He trudged through, step by step and nothing else. He felt a little more peculiar now, he’d been sliding through here for longer than the first time. It wasn’t a faulty recollection, the path felt definitely longer and everytime he looked up he failed to see the light coming from the opening ahead. It was like it didn’t even  _ exist  _ anymore. He muttered in confusion.

“What?... the hell is this…”

 

He stopped feeling the impacts on his back too, he could feel that the cloak was soaked thoroughly but it wasn’t getting hit anymore by the drippings above. Brainz suddenly took his arms and held them perpendicular to his sides, there was nothing stopping him from doing so; he wasn’t in the passage anymore… but the darkness inside had seeped out into the world it seemed. 

“What the hell is going  _ on?-” _

  
  


He blindly fumbled and felt around, it wouldn’t do him much good. He turned around and could see where he emerged from the trees, the glowsticks were the  _ only  _ things providing any light. The tiny bulb from the fridge that turned the blind obstacles in a midnight kitchen into perceivable things. He looked up to the ceiling afterwards.

“-who the hell turned off the  _ lights?”  _

 

How was this place even  _ lit  _ anyway? What permitted a sealed underground cave to be as visible as an open field in high noon anyway? For that matter, why did it stop just like  _ that? _ His thoughts went to the CORE, mind his perceptions of how the world worked as they would only tell him it made no sense. It was important and was the main if not  _ only  _ source of power this place had… but what if it was responsible for the homeostasis and ability for these unnatural biomes to exist? As far as this place went, it wasn’t too far off of a theory and if that damn scientist wasn’t in on this conspiracy too then Brainz wouldn’t have thrown the pager away and would’ve been able to ask about it. Her fault, not his. 

 

What did this mean now? The snow was melting and the unseen lights had gone out here… his guess was the rest out of this place would follow. It was all slowly dying… the underground was becoming necrotic. 

“Hoo shit. Hoo shit. Okay, no big deal. At least it’s gonna make everything harder for  _ them  _ too.”

 

The fog was still in the air too, he could tell from how it partially obscured the path of light even at this distance. As if the visibility needed to become worse. It just ensured even the people who obviously had to have possessed flashlights wouldn’t get to see very far. It any rate, Brainz would get to see  _ them  _ before they saw him. He may have been in greater danger of tripping on something or falling to his death now, but this could’ve been a blessing in disguise. His eyes were already adjusting to it, they were most comfortable in the dark anyway. 

 

That being said though… he needed a little bit of help seeing through utter blackness with a shroud, he could probably borrow one of the discarded glowsticks on the ground just to see where his feet were. 

 

Brainz tried to find where the path was again by looking around.

“Oh there it is.”

 

He saw the small light on the ground and began walking for it.

“Huh… I didn’t walk  _ that  _ far from it, did I?”

 

He could’ve sworn he only took a few steps before he realized something and stopped, but he had a bit of walking to do before he’d come up to the lights. No… something was  _ wrong  _ again, this wasn’t the same place that he’d been. It was  _ forward,  _ because he turned directly back around from  _ this  _ source of light and was able to easily spot the real path of glowsticks. He could see how the light clung to the trees and cast off the branches. Also, with his selective color blindness he could only see a faint “pinkish” haze in the path from the scarce red glow sticks that joined the others. The new one was quite red, definitively so and by itself too.

 

Whatever it was it was within the way he needed to go, so he decided he’d take advantage of it. 

“They must be using these as breadcrumbs to deal with this-”

He wasn’t too concerned with stealing the lone light marker, it wasn’t like they didn’t have a lavish collection of them just twenty yards away or so but it would inconvenience the military just a little bit more… it was worth it. Brainz had an audible thought come up.

“- Hmph… I wonder how the hell these assholes are handling all this. I know  _ I’d  _ have an easier time if I had  **_allies.”_ **

 

It wasn’t going to stop hurting anytime soon.

“Or more bullets than brains.” 

 

**_!?!!?_ **

 

“ **_OAWH!_ ** What the  **_f_ ** **_f-_ ** **uck?!”**

 

No sooner did Brainz enter the radius of the crimson light did he discover he wasn’t the only body basking it. He was just the only one that was still  **_breathing…_ ** He had a frightened spasm that put him into his flighty defensive state when he saw the body.

 

 

 

[Man Down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bz3wBuRpEQ)

  
  


The soldier was unmistakingly dead, he was laying flat on his stomach half buried in the snow and half in a puddle of his own diluted blood. Brainz found the cause of death before he even recognized what he was  _ looking at…  _ It had no  _ arms.  _ There was  **_nothing_ ** below either shoulder mind the frayed fabric and strings of flesh and sinew left behind. Half of the American Flag on on the one arm went  _ with  _ it wherever it was.

 

The panic began to accelerate his breaths, Brainz held his hands up and close to himself as he backed away from the sight.

“What the  _ fuck  _ happened here?? Holy  **_shit!_ ** **”**

 

The appearance was mortifying enough; somebody got their  _ arms  _ ripped off like a ragdoll! But the fact he had neither context nor  _ clue  _ to this made it all the more terrifying. He stood right at the edge of the light's radius and sidestepped around the mess, treating it like sneaking around a sleeping bear. He even quieted dubious remarks; whatever did this could’ve been listening.

“He didn’t fucking do this to  _ himself,  _ I know  **_I_ ** didn’t fucking do it!”

  
  


His heel collided with something that made a light  _ jingling  _ noise, Brainz nearly failed to suppress a startled shout. He jumped and spun around so fast that he gave himself vertigo. 

_ It was bullet casings, a LOT of them. Nary a gun was found. Whatever happened here was mutually violent…  _

 

His insides sunk. He swallowed the panic, it shuddered on the way down.

“I… didn’t even hear  _ gun.  _ Shots…”

 

This was a nightmare. No, a  _ legitimate  _ nightmare. Everything logical abandoned you, left you standing in the dark for all the irrational horrors to take you away from the real world. There was no meaning behind the exaggerated use of the term anymore: not when it was so literal. A lucid nightmare… and he wasn’t the only one suffering it seemed… 

The darkness sought to address him, this small crimson tinted respite meant  _ nothing  _ to it. All he had for consolation was that if whatever did this was still around or wanted  _ him  _ dead, he would’ve been torn apart already. Somehow, sadism didn’t factor into his thoughts, it still applied though because he knew  _ she  _ was lurking inside of the void. Brainz could already smell the burning over the stench of death. 

**“AT LEAST YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY ONE** **_UNARMED…”_ **

 

Funny as hell, it was the worst thing she could come up with. Her wicked laughter was  _ everywhere,  _ circling all around him. He didn’t want to give in, Brainz refused to dignify it with a response. 

 

Those eyes, he knew he’d see them when he heard her laugh. Two sets of burning red eyes glaring at him. They struck fear into him. They were only reflections of himself though, the thing that made the darkness so terrifying was no other than himself. He created it; he  _ reveled  _ in it, that’s what she wanted to show him. She knew everything he did before he could even think of it. She spoke again; he could see the blaze inside her mouth everytime she opened it, illuminating her face with brief flashes of red. 

 

“ **_KNOCK KNOCK…”_ **

 

She answered for him, it was the least she could do.

 

**_“WHO’S THERE?_ **

**_NOT *HIM* THAT’S WHO.”_ **

 

She began that sly giggle again, he could ‘feel’ how hard she was grinning at it… because he was doing the exact same thing.  **_It wasn’t funny,_ ** but his breaths were breaking up through his nose. Suppressed snickers sounded off in the back of his throat like drawn out hiccups. 

**_It wasn’t funny...._ **

 

But he couldn’t stop himself, her laughter was contagious, it was  _ controlling.  _ He was aware and distressed over it but all it did was make him fall into a nervous and stuttering giggle of his own. 

**_It’s NOT FUCKING FUNNY._ **

 

But it  _ was!  _ Everyone was laughing at it! Even the  _**foosball player candidate on the ground was in good spirits!** _ The began began guffawing, Brainz could see his head shaking and nodding as the man howled with laughter for his own demise.

  
  


The sounds, the laughing, the sirens they were all so  _ loud.  _ He could  _ hear  _ the crying seeping from the cacophony, how it  _ always  _ did, it  _ always  _ managed to! Nobody wanted to  _ help  _ them, they were all just laughing when they were  _ suffering.  _ He could see the camouflage morphing into the crumpled form on the ground, it was all happening again and he  _ couldn’t save them- _

 

_ “ _ **_SHUT UP!!!!!”_ ** __  
  


His efforts to end it burst through the delusions and resulted in a passionate roar erupting from his throat. He could still  _ feel  _ their presence begging and pleading for him as the laughter shrank away. It had to  _ stop,  _ he suddenly struck himself in his head.

“ **_Shut up!”_ **

 

And again, and  _ again. _

“ **Shut up! Shut** **_up!”_ **

 

Then he finished by slapping himself so hard that his face would show a red imprint of his hand for the following hour.

**_“_ ** **Shut the** **_FUCK_ ** **UP! Leave the** **_FUCKING_ ** **kid ALONE!!!”**

 

**...**

 

Silence… nothing but the sound of his desperate pants for air. It was over, it stopped. They were gone, they couldn’t afflict him anymore. He was back to his meager radius of light with the very inanimate corpse staying as it should on the ground. Enough was enough, he bent over and relieved the fallen soldier from his glowstick and began walking in the opposite direction of the portal he’d crossed to enter this new hell. 

 

He wasn’t going to allow questions about it, it  _ didn’t  _ happen as far as he was concerned. It was done and he was gone, end of story. 

 

It was all on  _ her,  _ she  **_wanted_ ** him to see the body, throw him into all the delusions until they made him  _ scream.  _ Maybe someone heard him, maybe that’s what she wanted: the  _ real  _ one wanted to kill him so why was this any different? Grass eating witch got into his head real good, playing with his weaknesses and traumas. 

“I hate you.  _ So  _ much... you never deserved a promise. You  _ bitch.”  _

 

Good thing something took his mind off of this; Brainz noticed how warm and slimy the glow stick in his grip was. Turns out it wasn’t a  _ red  _ glow stick, it was some other color that he couldn’t see. Maybe it was  _ actually  _ white, but what it  _ was  _ was covered in fresh blood which gave the thing a reddish tint. At this point, Brainz only sighed with bitterness. 

“Great,  _ thanks  _ Toriel. Thank you  _ * _ **_so*_ ** much, I really appreciate what you did to me.”

 

He effortlessly wiped his hands on himself and tried to smear the red off with mostly melted snow. The color from the light turned a faded pink but that was about it for improvement, now it was more runny and going down his sleeve. Another sigh.

“Twenty years from someone screwing me over and I didn’t see this coming… I guess I deserve this.”

 

He really needed to stop griping over it, he had much more preceding concerns like the bridge he just walked up to. 

 

So his theory on the breadcrumb trail was correct, the dangerous looking rope bridge had been judiciously marked by a cluster of glow sticks tied to posts staking it to the ground. Brainz could just make out the other set of posts by a faint glow through the dense fog in the blackness. The bridge itself though felt  _ especially  _ daunting now. At this point, running into a camouflaged man holding a gun would’ve been the least of his concerns lest he think anymore of the thing that ripped the one soldier’s arms off. Especially with the fact Brainz didn’t have the sense to arm himself when leaving The Ruins, he blamed Toriel for that too. 

 

The crossing may have felt miserably longer, but at last Brainz stepped back onto semi solid ground. He proceeded just a little further with the glow stick permitting him to see where he was going. He didn’t intend to go very far in the moment, but he kept walking until he found that familiar landmark he was looking for.

 

Looking like it belonged to an abandoned department store, the sign tried its best to greet him.

 

_[WELCOME TO SNOWDIN](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeJkDTKMLDg) _

 

**30:30:49**

**30:30:48**

**30:30:47**

**...**

  
  
  
  



	18. You should've seen this coming...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You thought it was over,  
> you thought it was done.  
> But nobody's winning,  
> nobody's won.
> 
>  
> 
> Bad day, bad time bad guy bad guys.
> 
> My head... it hurts.

Three times.

 

Three times he showed up in this town and it underwent a massive change each time he stepped back into it. A black sheep in a goat’s clothing wandering outside from a bar, everybody looked at him. A freak of nature on a fetch quest sneaking his way through a slaughtering ground, everybody was looking for him. Now? A desolate interloper stumbling through the aftermath of what he’d wrought… nobody was looking.

  


Another tremor swayed the ground, this one came with a very faint… very distant sound of an explosion down the line. Brainz looked to his feet while holding his balance, he could almost see the ground shifting left and right. Only getting weaker with every repetition until he couldn’t feel it anymore.

 

Brainz turned to the few trees he could seen residing behind the sign, he didn’t feel _safe_ returning to their embrace though. There was just something unsettling about the claustrophobic space in there now, something openly hostile that instilled him with an unfounded kind of dread. He felt that he should take his chances just going straight through town, simple as that. It really wasn’t _that_ big to begin with, very straightforward. If he’d been able to just simply walk through it, this would be over _much_ quicker.

 

He had his glowstick to see where he was going and if he felt the need to hide, he was prepared to shove it into his jacket and snuff it out until he didn’t feel the need anymore. Unless something could see in the dark like a bat, or had its own light source and brushed right up with him; he would be fine… To be honest the odds for both of those were reasonably situated, but he just couldn’t make himself care too much. Why worry about dying so much when the world quite literally bent and deformed itself to keep you alive for some sadistic reason? For the sake of whatever reason that was, Brainz would traverse the place in a kind of lackadaisical meander.

 

He passed the dormant sign and something already caught his attention. Residing next the town greeting was a group of modestly cabins joined together… there was even one of those self aware boxes sitting in front like a lawn ornament.

 

The abode had a sign over it.

**_SHOP_ **

 

Just from where he stood he could tell the place had been ransacked. The door of the ‘shop’ was in pieces laying on the floor inside, the frame that held it had been broken into two. All the windows facing the outside had been destroyed. He had no reason to believe there would be anything or _anyone_ laying inside. He still learned through the doorway, illuminating the dark space with his pinkish light.

[There's nobody home...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNBo4vSMVDI)

  


The place was trashed, what did he expect? He didn’t dare step in further, the floor was riddled with broken glass and splinters of wood… not to mention all the dust. The bullet holes too… they went from the store counter to the wall behind it, and even the floor in front of it; the poor bastards didn’t stand a chance. But what was this? Amidst the wares scattered on the floor: some weird looking rag, some melty looking confectionary, a lot of gold coins gathering dust. Amidst the wares and such, something took his attention so much that he bent over and picked it up despite the dust making the act as unappealing as ever.

 

It was a little rabbit made of cloth and thread with black button eyes and a polka dotted dress. It was so small, it almost fit in his one hand… it would’ve been perfect for little hands. He held onto it for a bit, it started to feel a little laborious to breathe. All for what? This shabby looking doll that belonged to a stupid worthless monster. It was nothing to get _distraught_ over. His hand tightened around it more and more, it closed so much that his whole arm trembled. His whole demeanor became stilted, like every breath he took or limb he moved wanted to be an exclamation. Every breath became a grunt suppressing something else.

 

_This is five, ignore the sirens; even if you leave this room, you’ll never leave this room._

 

He closed his eyes and took his deepest breath and counted as he let it out through his nose. It calmed, his grip on the doll relaxed and it was _fine._ It was all _fine._ In the end… he gently brushed some of the dust from the doll’s soft head with his finger stroking it. Brainz kneeled back down and returned the doll to the floor… more so the pile of dust it deviated from.

 

He left…

 

The second building said ‘ **_INN’_ ** above its felled door.

“I don’t. ( _Mmh_ ) I don’t wanna know.”

He took one look at the darkness inside and he still sounded like he was holding something back with that little remark.

 

There was another glowstick up ahead, he focused on that. He coerced his immediate attention to his feet. The snow covered ground below them now was more like transparent mush, Brainz could now see the original stone ground underneath it all. Wait… he heard something. Stop. Brainz stopped his progress dead in his tracks and put himself into pitch darkness when he concealed his glow stick into his cloak and pulled it closed tightly. It was like standing in the middle of foggy void, he couldn’t do away with this sudden unpleasant feeling that took over him.

 

He wondered, how many of the still alive creatures down here were sitting in this same darkness waiting for their inevitable deaths? Lost, scared, and helpless. Enough of that, he heard the sound again!

 

It sounded like a voice from somewhere beyond this haze. No, wait... He knew what it was. Brainz made out that barely audible and unintelligible voice right away. He must’ve been somewhat near the restaurant because that voiced belonged to the sniper on the roof. It was _definitely_ her, he wouldn’t be able to forget _this_ soon . The same sniper that so **_‘proudly exclaimed’_ ** what she’d done. Attoning to what he had to witness in that god forsaken house. That ownerless doll. Brainz could remember her _exact_ words, he could _actually_ hear them playing back in his thoughts.

“ **_I killed Twelve, dumbass bunnies… and not_ ** **ONE of them fought back… this sucks.”**

 

That’s _exactly_ what she said, that piece of fucking shit. The recollection was so lucid that Brainz could _feel_ her breath on his neck as if she was whispering it to him. He could smell the must in her breath. She just wanted to _mock_ him, shove it in his face and blame it all on _him._ Like **_EVERYBODY ELSE._ **

“You. _Motherfuckers…”_

 

You know what? No more, Brainz had been tried and plagued in every conceivable way by _every_ possible person since he got **_stuck_ ** down here. He was tired of letting everybody step all over him and do whatever they pleased until reeling back when he lost his goddamn mind from the anguish. And now they were murdering _children_ and parading themselves as the _‘good guys’?_  It didn’t matter that these were: worthless, _conniving,_ **_death-worshipping_ ** masses of filth and dust; you did _not_ involve fucking **children.**

 

He got down to his belly, the cold slush soaked into his clothes immediately. Brainz ignored the next light in the fog down the path and _crawled_ towards the noise. He couldn’t be bothered to hurry this up, after all… He didn’t want to _alert_ this murderer to his presence, no no no… She didn’t deserve that warning.

 

There was nothing in the means of his thoughts, the fresh wound Toriel inflicted on him still rent him to the bone, but he didn’t give it anymore than it already took.. There was just _him_ and what he was about to do, as it used to be, as it _should’ve_ been. Through the mush and grimy ground; his hands occasionally pressed down on round casings, shooting them out from the pressure exerted by his palms. He had no reason to think he wasn’t dirtying himself with diluted monster remains as he progressed, he just didn’t have any room in his thoughts to care about that anymore right now.

 

Soon, he had more than the sound of her voice to guide him, a great big glow began to break through the dark fog. The brick building still dared to exist in all the gloom, its shape was partially defined by the lights coming from the roof. Like some kind of beacon, it drew him closer. From this glow though an even brighter beam of light coned off the edges of the roof, it danced and swayed all around as it illuminated the ground leading to Grillby’s. It was her, she was looking for someone, or looking _out_ for someone… Wonder who it was. By the time Brainz recognized it as her flashlight, he’d already touched the cold bricks of the building and was safely tucked into the blind spots surrounding the place.

 

That light was moving so _erratically_ though… She wasn’t scared was she? Scared of the dark? Nonsense, it was only what lurked _in_ the dark that got you. Speaking of… Brainz lurked to the back of the building, taking excessive caution not to splash in the many puddles scattered around. As for the noise the sniper was making, she had her own concerns coming to voice.

 

“This is STORM FOUR-JULIETTE I’m broadcasting blind, any listening stations _please_ respond.

**_…_ **

**_ANY_ ** listening stations. This is STORM FOUR JULIETTE. We’re completely in the dark here and ECHO FIVE has one M.I.A. _Anyone_ please respond! Over.”

  


He could _feel_ the sober distress radiating from her, he totally knew how it felt. Alone in the dark with nobody to help you, this is what happens when you actually _relied_ on others. This soldier was going to die because of it, what a shame… Not Really. Brainz sneaked a controlled exposure of his light and crept to the ladder, the sniper’s distress only seemed to grow.

“... _Really…_ you guys are all caterwauling about the ‘core’ then the lights go out and suddenly none of you will pick up your **god-forsaken** _radios?_ _Answer_ me you,   _assholes_! This is STORM FOUR _JULIETTE!_ Does _ANYbody_ **copy??”**

She continued her calls, but _somebody_ came… _She should’ve been saying her goodbyes._

 

The intruder encroached this tower of light. He grew ever so nearer to the sole occupant, murder searing in his eyes and with his arms stretched out. The sniper was hunched over trying to see through the dense fog, her weapon was perched on its bipod overlooking the ground below. 

 

“...Somethings _wrong_ and I’m in the dark! We’re running a risk of _losing_ this position! I need _somebody_ to respond, **_NOW._ ** ”

 

He could hear the dead tone coming from the receiver on her vest; a flatline for her… But something finally struck her beyond her absent comrades, something caused her to go dubiously still… before whipping her head around and facing the red eyed monster.

 

**It was already too late...**

  


With a dreadful growl, Brainz grappled onto the soldier’s back wrapping his arms around her neck. He clenched his muscles as hard as he could, tightening the crease of his arms with the intent to strangle her.

 

The sniper made a surprised shriek only abruptly cut off like her air supply. She thrashed alright, she fought him _hard._ It didn’t matter his slight advantage in size, this woman was better trained and far healthier than he was and she wasn’t going down easy. In the midst of her terrible sounds and guttural gags, she tried to use what air she had left to scream for help, but not even a rasp would come out. One of her arms gave up on trying to release the stranglehold on her, it dove for the Beretta sitting in her leg holster. Brainz saw the murdering metal come up for his head and he too subverted an arm to stop it.

 

* **_BLAM!*_ **

**_*BLAM-BLAMBLAM-BLAM!!!*_ **

**_*BLAM!*_ **

  
  


He overpowered her aim with the gun and coaxed it up to the rocky ceiling. Brainz forced her one digit against the trigger and convulsed as he’d cause all the ammunition to be dumped from it. It was so close to his head that his tinnitus worsened with every shot, anybody stumbling through the dark would be able to hear this like a call to gather. He knew he didn’t have much time before _something_ would join in on this for better or worse.

 

The gun had almost been emptied, but as it approached its twelfth discharge the struggling soldier broke his arresting pose and pointed the thing in the opposite direction.

 

The third to last shot blatantly missed.

The second to last shot grazed his right thigh, digging a trench into his soft flesh. The bullet finished its course down his leg by puncturing through his boot and striking him in the ball of his ankle. The pain from it leapt right over the suppression the adrenaline set up, he gave a short but agonized yell. Brainz threw himself backwards and brought the woman down with him, still unwilling to let her go.

The last shot missed by way…

 

The fight was becoming grueling and desperate. Just as he found both of them writhing on the ground together; the backside of the pistol clocked him in his nose. He felt one of his nostrils collapsing on itself and he didn’t even finish blenching when the empty gun cracked him right in his mouth. He felt _something_ shooting into the back of his throat, but that was overshadowed by the misery exploding inside his face.

“ **_GaOOWWW!_ ** **You.** **_CUNT!!”_ **

 

That got him to let go, his arms were almost involuntary in reaching for his damaged face. A good stream of warmth trickled down his knuckles, but he regained his will and overrode the urge to hold the pain till it stopped, Brainz jumped to his feet and shot his gaze back to his adversary.

 

The woman had given herself a pair of excruciating wheezes and was scrambling on her knees toward the end of the roof. Was she going to jump off to get away from him, or was it not even that well thought out and she just needed to blatantly get away? Oh no. he knew what she was going for, the thing that was waiting ever so patiently propped up on its bipod.

 

He spat out a glob of blood and charged for the gun, he _wanted_ it more than she ever could. Unfortunately, the rightful owner got a grip on it first and rolled herself over onto her back to work on pointing the business end of the gun at the terrorist’s bloodied face.

 

He already planned the contingency; Brainz knocked the elongated barrel aside as he approached the sniper in his charge. His intact foot wound back and when he knew he was close enough Brainz connected the dusty end of his boot into the side of the woman’s head. She fell over again but still retained her weapon, she took excessive will in pulling it into herself to keep Brainz from taking it.

 

The sniper rolled onto her stomach and pinned the weapon under her body as a last deterrence. Brainz only saw an opportunity…  Especially how the barrel and the stock were protruding from under the woman’s sides. He stomped down on top of her back and took hold of both ends of the coveted gun and began to pull up on it. Brainz exerted more and more force into his legs as his boot pushed into the sniper’s vertebrate. Her pained and exerted groan was only overshadowed by his furious growling.

“ **LET. GO. YOU.** **_BITCH."_ **

 

She couldn’t withstand the immense strain anymore and the gun suddenly jerked upwards. The receiver collided with her chin, the woman’s teeth sunk into her tongue and bit it open. It wasn’t over yet as she _still_ maintained her grip on the gun and refused to let it go. Throughout this, she was still fighting as fiercely as ever: kicking, elbowing, and thrusting into his midsection; all in all this wasn’t fun for either of them. He just couldn’t get the weapon off of her, even as he pried at her fingers clutching the thing. Nobody would win, he knew the moment he relented on her that the gun would find a way to stare at him… That's when he saw _another_ opportunity within his own hands.

 

He changed the direction of his pull for the gun and focused it more _towards_ him rather than up to get it out of her hands. He pulled it towards himself with the only thing separating him and the sniper rifle being the woman’s bruising neck.

 

He pulled, the woman’s arched back and forcibly upright torso only made this easier as Brainz again used his foot planted on her back as a fulcrum. The harrowing sounds of her struggles for breath returned immediately and only spurred him to put more emphasis into this. Soon, he could hear her choking on her own saliva.

 

This was how it should’ve been. He _started_ it like this and it only seemed fair he would finish the job the way it was meant to be, all he needed was a tool to make it easier to do. The thrashing began to lose its ferocity, and her struggles began to slow. The wretched noises coming from her mouth were reduced to suppressed gags. Her energy decreased more… And More…. And More. Slower and slower... Nice and easy, just like that.

 

He whispered in an assertive and uncaring tone.

“ _SHHhhhh…_ shhh… that’s it. Go to sleep”

 

 **_*Kr-ACKCK!!*_ **  


The moment the sniper sunk into unconsciousness, all the resistance on the gun vanished instantly as she went limp. Brainz was still heaving of the rifle with every ounce of fury he had and when this happened; one side of the gun wrenched into him and the grip caught the woman’s throat on the way. That oh so definitive sound followed her head twisting past her shoulder.

 

He killed her.

  


Brainz let the body slump over and his last interaction with it would be pulling up the now pliable fingers trying to hold onto the gun. Well; he got _exactly_ what he wanted just like every other atrocity he committed. The sniper was dead and he not only felt her life diminishing in his arms, but he ensured there was no saving her. There was nothing they could do… she was _dead._ How did he feel about this now that it was too late to take back? Unlike every parallel that had occured down here, **he didn’t feel a single thing. Not a regret would be had.** This was just another servant to the government and she did exactly what everybody else was supposed to do when they grieved him. This one came with a _bonus_ though.

 

“ _Niiice…”_

For his troubles, Brainz had collected a kind of **DMR.** It took a moment of inspecting and stroking its intricate parts to get a more specific name.

 

 **_M110 SASS. 7.62_ ** **with bipod, 10 round magazine, and a high magnification tactical scope.**

 

“ _Very_ nice.”

He actually felt an improvement on his mood. Basic problem solving had that effect on him and admittedly, getting to hold big and expensive guns was always a guilty pleasure. But the moment wasn’t permitted to last for long as he had reality to get back to, his face really fucking hurt and his one leg was about to give out.

 

Brainz leaned the gun on the short wall separating the ledge and wiped a copious amount of red from his face before sitting down himself. He couldn’t even _feel_ his nose outside of an immense pins and needles sensation and part of him didn’t want to roll up his pant leg. He would’ve had enough on his hands treating his injuries, but he’d soon discover consequences had some late arrivers.

 

A peculiar noise began to emit from the dead body, white noise. It sounded like something was trying to emerge from the sea of static and was progressing with every second.

“ **..Suze. (We heard) the shots! (What’s) going on?”**

 

The voice broke from the indecipherable veil of a bad connection and Brainz could hear it perfectly now.

“ **_SUZE._ ** DO YOU COPY? We’re inbound, hold tight!”

 

Fuck.  

Turns out making an awful lot of noise actually _did_ attract someone. Brainz couldn’t be more cynically amused that he saw this coming despite literally being unable to see it as it came. He began to hear wet sounding footsteps coming to him from echos, it wouldn’t be soon before he heard them directly.

 

The discharged sniper _did_ call out for help… And look at that! Somebody came! Brainz couldn’t even manage his grit to stand up properly with his new gun before he saw the flashlights emerging from the dark fog. There were two of them. Heavy breathing and a voice under duress came with them.

“-She won’t answer, I think she’d been compromised. **_SUZE!-”_ **

  
Then the gaze of flashlights found and stuck to him like a magnet, blinding Brainz in the process.

 

- _OH_ s-shit! It’s **_HIM! OMEGA!”_ **

 

**_GET DOWN_ **

 

The bullets whizzed inches from his head as he threw himself to the ground out of sight, Brainz ended up laying face first onto the body of the sniper. She was still _warm…_ The bullets kept coming and miniscule chunks of concrete from the wall burst into clouds of dust as it took the impacts from the lead.

 

Now _this_ was the pinnacle of familiarity. This place finally felt like normal: the doom and gloom, the constant betrayal, and finally the gunshots sounding off in his presence with their payloads nearly taking his head off.

 

The sound of thunder stopped and through the ringing lingering in his ears he could hear another voice just barely audible and obviously not intended for him to hear.

“-Are you _crazy?!_ She could still be _up_ there!”

 

Then the unnerving shout.

“If she is, then she’s already DEAD!”

 

Something metallic arced over the midsection and rolled into his boot, it took him all of a second to recognize it. Considering how everything seemed to slow down afterwards, he could’ve claimed it took him an _eternity_ to realize what it was.

 **_“_ ** **Oh** **_SHIT!!”_ **

 

He almost tripped every piece of equipment scattered on the roof he barreled so fast. Brainz snatched the gun before disembarking from his position, another symphony of gunfire accompanied him as he sprinted for the back of the building.   


Where was the ladder? Where _was_ it?! No time; he had to get off this roof **_now._ ** Karma was a bitch and the image of that shrapnel ridden soldier on the Ruins floor was still playing in his brain like caustic film.   


The sniper rifle went over the edge first, Brainz would follow before he even heard it crash to the ground. He knew with the mostly liquid snow that the landing was going to suck, but he did remember to roll… his execution though was unsuccessful as he slammed onto the dumpster down below and tumbled into a puddle.

 

Then came the explosion from the roof, anything up there was reduced to charred or shrapnel riddled chunks.

 

Brainz didn’t have the time to writhe in pain from the side he landed on, he clambered to his feet and urgently scanned the illuminated ground for the gun he threw. But before he would go for it, Brainz conceived and impromptu strategy. He reached into his innermost coat and brought his pinkish glow stick to his grip. He looked to both sides of the building and ultimately chucked the light down the left clearing, if it worked it would be a distraction to buy him time. The ringing in his ears would die down enough enough to hear voices.

“-Stations! We’ve got a confirmed sighting on Omega! We’re in the Snowdin Area and we have one troop down! _Omega_ is in Snowdin!”

 

Brainz painfully rasped something cynical.

“Tattle. Tale…”

 

 **Gun. Hands. Check. Fine.** Scope looks like it didn’t survive the fall but that doesn’t matter.

**Go.**

 

**_Aggressive._ **

 

Show them no quarter, they were supposed to expect that he would go on the defensive and wait for one of them to come the way he predicted. No such luck, he completely negated the logic to his quickly procured diversion and willfully limped to the side of the building with the gun planted against his hip.   


One of them had already beaten him to the the path and was already on his way to kill him, his friend was presumably taking the other route to flank him. The soldier was faster on the approach and initiative, Brainz was faster on the trigger pull.

 

Two gunshots would erupt into the air. One of them miraculously winged its target in their unarmored thigh sending them into a stumble. Brainz had his own procession of rounds flying at him and would retreat back to the inherent cover he had and scramble to get the damn weapon into the proper position to actually aim.

 

Brainz would’ve jumped right back out to end the engagement but for some peculiar reason he felt like turning around to the other side of the building. He _also_ felt like opening fire on the figure that crept out from the corner with _his_ gun drawn.

 

Seven shots rang out, four of them belonged to Brainz and two of those hit the soldier square in his chest. Brainz made a last moment discovery upon shouldering the weapon that the magnified scope may have been broken but the canted sight worked just fine.

 

**_DOUBTS_ **

 

Both of the soldiers were down but far from out. The critical question was ‘ _Which one do I need to deal with NOW?’._ The first one could’ve been limping right for him, right _now,_ but if he turned his back to the one he just sent down it could’ve been the last mistake he made.

 

**_JUST GO_ **

 

Brainz hobbled away from the corner and approached the newly downed man.

 

He shot the man five times when he saw the his torso begin to sit up, he put everything the magazine had left into him. The sniper rifle gave off a couple of damning **_*clicks!*_ ** after the deed was done. He didn’t even know how to follow this up for thoroughness, he saw red spraying from behind the soldier’s head and that would have to do for that.

 

Brainz tossed the rifle to the ground and snatched the assault rifle off the soldier before the man even ceased stirring on the ground, a pool of red began to seep from under his throat. Brainz could hear gurgling noises before he cleared the second corner in his frenzied dash. Good enough.

 

The one he wounded could’ve been anywhere, he could’ve been _waiting_ for him in the front of the building; ready to fire despite being injured. He didn’t have a clue of what to do besides the basic necessity of getting away and staying mobile.

 

Contact.

 

 _Somebody_ made a surprised yell, but _both_ of them fired upon each other in a panic. Brainz squeezed the trigger a total of three times, but didn’t expect the weapon to project three times as many rounds. Every burstfire had the jump on him and strew his aim all over the place. Of _course_ he threw himself back into cover, especially hearing the bullets ripping chunks of brick out from the building and whizzing passed his head.  However… There was this agonized yell that suddenly came from the other side (followed by a * **_Thud*_ ** ), it all but convinced him to investigate.

 

He hit _something,_ the soldier was on the ground clutching his arm and making terribly pained noises from the back of his throat. The suffering wouldn’t continue, Brainz flipped the switch on the side of the gun and put five more concentrated rounds into the soldier’s unarmored extremities. Only when the cries of misery convinced him that the man was hors de combat did Brainz walk up to him and stare right into the whites of his eyes… Before he blew them both out with the second bullet being more redundant to the fight much less his critically impaired sanity. It was worth it though as he knew those eyes couldn’t judge him anymore.

 

After that?  It all went deathly quiet. The world resumed its muted ambiance as if nothing had ever happened. Brainz stared through the soldier’s opened head for what felt like minutes, all too long watching the blood streaming streaming down the contorted face and diluting into the thin layer of water coating the world.

 

There was no taking this back as usual… In retrospect he just killed three people, a total of _six_ now, it could even be _seven_ as he lead the one to his death unbeknownst to him or what even happened. Well that thought didn’t linger for long, it left without resonating anything in his thoughts.

 

Brainz sighed with a hint of relief and finally sat down off of his injured leg, he crossed his other leg and lay his weapon atop of it. He actually waited for an additional minute or two before he was fully able to entrust his attention to himself. He didn’t hear anything from the blood spattered radio, and this applied to anything coming from the verge of what he could see. Onto the examination.

 

* * *

  


It wasn’t pretty, but it certainly has and could’ve been worse. He had a decently sized trench going down his thigh but nothing deep enough to really scare him. It was a graze, but it still hurt like hell. His ankle however, was a bit of a more complicated story. Fifteen minutes would go by before he stood up again. In those minutes Brainz took the liberty of ensuring **K. Oullar’s** (He read the name on the dogtags) equipment wouldn’t go to waste and from which he took: six magazines for the M16  as well as two for his sidearm (Which he also took), two M67 grenades-

 

Looks like he could keep _all_ of his promises to Flowey now, and he could even give Asgore a second opinion, neat.

 

-, a spare pair of tactical gloves that fit well enough, and funny enough he utilized the iFAK last of all and even then he only really cleaned himself up with the alcohol wipes provided. Brainz stared concentratedly at his bare foot and still bleeding ankle.

“Okay. How do I do this now. How do I recover this.”

 

Staring at it with blunt intent didn’t seem to work and neither did repeating a mantra of a command for his injury to cease. He just continued to bleed, no amount of closing his eyes and breathing deeply would result in them opening to find a scar on his foot. It was right about here where he had a sort of discernment.

“Did I _really_ just buy what that piss yellow lizard told me? _I_ thought I was disregarding everything a monster ever told me…”

 

…

 

A candid statement.

“I feel like a fuck’n. _IDIOT…_ why did I think that was _legit?!_ She had for me _god_ knows how long and could’ve-”

 

He cut himself off and brute forced all rationalization to go away. Instead of wasting his time; Brainz just went for the gauze rolls and did what he could to seal up the wounds below. To his disappointment, there were no painkillers provided.

 

“Yehp, good ole USA skimping their own troops, sunova _bitch_ this hurts.”   


Good enough... Although now that he was _sure_ the ridiculous story about him being a superhuman was junk, that meant he’d have to deal with his face. He saved this last for a reason. Brainz only touched the bridge of his nose and felt the pain surging up to his eye socket and flinching.

“ _Ohh_ that’s bad! Oo..ooof, yehp it’s broken.”

 

There was reasonable cut on his face in the shape of the magazine well that hit him, too. It went right up to his forehead and stopped just after the bump where his cartilage dislodged.

“Ohhh man this is gonna suck, this is gonna _suck_ but I gotta _do_ it… ohh god.”

 

No anesthetics or mild high from abused medications, this was indeed going to suck. Before starting though, he made sure to share his contempt with the most likely mutilated corpse on slightly destroyed roof behind him with an exasperated sigh.

“You fucking _bitch…_ why are all the women down here fucking cunts? Aahh…”

 

It wasn’t fun nor efficient, but Brainz had experience with resetting his own nose. It took a couple of tries and a lot of writhing and pain. He took one of the unused gauze pads from the kit he borrowed to bite down on. Alas after a contender for the worst pain he ever felt on his face and a muffled _*_ **_crack!*,_ ** Brainz sighed all of the pain out.

“ _OOooaahhh_ I _hate_ doing that.”

 

As for his gums which felt five times swollen, Brainz ran his finger through them to find the damage. Like he thought, he had a newly opened socket to join with the others… but this one was unique.

“Ohh schit was that’muh fhuckinf silva toof? Better not be. Swear ta ffhucking god.”

 

He really couldn’t do anything for that except gripe about it, he was almost sure he ended up swallowing it but had some doubt and wanted to ascertain that it wasn’t lying on the roof of the building still. However… that would mean he’d have to take a look at the charred corpse up there and he really wasn’t in the mood for that as the nose job had already made him feel queasy and lightheaded.

“This fucking place. I can't keep losing teeth, I'm gonna look like  _a methhead!_ I've lost so many.... just keep taking more from me why don't ya..."

 

There wasn’t much left he could do here besides mill about, Brainz had to find a somewhat comfortable way to walk without making every step a tribulation. When he found something acceptable, he got up and considered his next moves.

 

Oof, the weight on his legs was actually a little more than he’d like to handle. Brainz felt that a decent amount of time trekking like this would take too much out of him and he had a long walk ahead of him. It’d been a while since he’d lugged around a full sized firearm along with a well packed inventory, hell it had been long enough since he last  _checked_ his inventory.

 

Unfortunately, he figured out the solution to all this which meant he would sit right back down and delay his move on for another couple of minutes. Brainz removed his duffel bag for the first time in a decent while and opened it up. It was still chock full of the  weapon magazines that made up most of the weight and entitled him to the least amount of use. Sadly knowing the truth about his weapons lead him to finally accept that all this ammunition was dead weight. If he wanted to truly get away from all this, he _had_ to let it all go as there was no point in hoping anymore.

 

Brainz turned the bag over and spilled all the contents onto the wet ground, dozens of magazines and loose rounds scattered about. There were other things that fell out too, such as a-

 

“Wait, what’s _that?_ What did I- _Ohhhh my god, I’m a_ **_moro-ha-ha-haaaahn…”_ **

 

Remember the perfectly usable flashlight he had with him all this time? Evidently Brainz didn’t and he couldn’t help but flood his thoughts with how much of an easier time he’d have if he did. From not having to pick up a bloody glowstick to simply being able to bludgeon the sniper on the back of her head and preventing all the trouble he just stirred and endured.

“I hate myself.”  


 

This flashlight wasn’t going to be helpful _now_. Brainz had a much more suitable weapon that came with its own tactical flashlight. Finding this one only served as a demeanment, and insult to his shoddy recollection and deteriorating mental state. What else was in here?

 

Right… his burglarizing getup, the balaclava and the ski goggles. Fat help _they’d_ be, everybody already knew him by now. It didn’t matter how little they really weighed, they would not return to his inventory. Really the only things that he’d place in his duffel bag were two M16 magazines that didn’t fit in his pockets so well, along with the remainder of the iFAK. Speaking of pockets; Brainz took the one magazine he had and tossed it away as well, the only things that remained in his jeans were his lighter and the one coin in back pocket.

 

He closed it up but still hesitated before slinging it back over his shoulders.

 

It was starting to get _uncomfortably_ warm down here, much too warm to be wearing two overcoats and a **sweater…** Brainz looked down to the stripes that clung to him so persistently: no matter how much he endured, no matter the extent of his transgressions, he still held onto this scrap of fabric and ‘kindness’.

 

He snickered incredulously… Not a hint of humor or joy.  


The coats were shed and the sweater was removed, bearing his torso and all its ink mysteries. The sweater would be cast down by Brainz and left behind in the presence of the dead, reduced to nothing but trash on the ground. Still feeling the string of spite, Brainz stepped on the balled up garment and twisted his boot all around in contempt. With that sordid matter done, Brainz slipped back into his coats and closed up the innermost pink one. The dirty leather on his bare skin really didn’t feel nice and warranted a shudder, but he would feel better knowing that her wouldn’t correspond to her anymore. This gun in his hands gave him _all_ the comfort he needed; he grabbed it and slung his lighter inventory onto his back and began his journey once again.

 

He glanced to Grillby’s for one last time. He could see a small bit of smoke billowing from the roof in the shine of the glowsticks, something may have caught on fire and he had no intention of going up there and finding out. He did have a slight indecision about moving on or moseying over to the untouched corpse behind the building to grab more ammunition, six magazines wasn’t all too much when you were a renegade on both sides of this war you started. Speaking of which…

 

Brainz ejected his gun’s current magazine and inspected it; it still had bullets in it, but how many? He was at the uneven point where he didn’t feel all to well about reloading a fresh one and wasting ammo, but felt less comfortable stumbling into his next engagement and finding out that he only had three or four bullets left in the weapon. The fear of running out of ammunition at a critical time was a prophesied anxiety that he knew would happen **eventually** , but that was as specific as he got. He was about to make a compromise for what he’d do, when he heard footsteps. Very slow and deliberate footsteps at that, heading right for him.

 

With a jump; Brainz discarded the magazine in his hands and reloaded the weapon, giving the new magazine a firm slap as it clicked into place. He brought the rifle up to his shoulder he and the gaze of the flashlight would confront the source of the steps.

 

No opposing light would shine into his eyes, his gun wouldn’t stare into the barrel of another of its kind because he wasn't looking at a soldier...  

He was looking at the captain of the Royal Guard. 

 

[#3355FFSTIMULATE](https://youtu.be/URPS03C-Ryg)

 

**29:56:52**

**29:56:51**

**29:56:50**

**...**


	19. C2A19TITLE#

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't hate you...

His hand twitched and the gun went off, emitting its killing with a trio of controlled explosions. But that would be the only pull of the trigger, only before recognizing the figure before him. When the thoughts caught up and he looked through the red scope of the rifle, he would lose all of his focus.

 

[Unyielded Animosity](https://youtu.be/n7BCYFN0gEc)

 

The bullets from the now ‘misfire’ narrowly avoided her head, but found a compromise in rupturing the webbed protrusion off of it. The very same one Brainz had gnawed a sizable chunk off of. Undyne didn’t even flinch or so much as make a noise. All she did was stop her pace, standing there as if paused even as the new injury settled in.

Alphys was actually right… she _did_ survive the violent encounter; Brainz couldn’t make out any signs of the past altercation on her form. She looked _so_ much worse though… This monster had arrayed herself in new suit of armor, it was so much ‘ _more’_ than what she’d brought to him so many hours ago: it was bigger, it looked grander, it was ‘spikier’, there were hearts painted profoundly all over it but it was tattered, and scratched and partially scorched. **The** **thing was absolutely** ** _lousy_** **with bullet holes present in dozens, parts of it looked like they had been blown off and were caked with DUST,** ** _there were filthy and dusty boot prints all over it as if it had been stomped on countless times, with some of the bootprints preceding onto the wearer’s face._**

That face, there was so much wrong with it: dust was seeping from it in many places, the shape of it was deformed and demented as if the stomps had misshapen it, that blazing red hair that had once been restrained to the back of her head was concealing her face in these unkempt and ragged looking bangs. The most striking thing about the face, about her _entirely_ , the thing that Brainz glimpsed before he could even _recognize_ what he was seeing; her eye… The once vicious yellow thing that pierced with a vindictive stare had gone out. There was nothing but a black void sinking into her face; it looked like she had gone blind, staring at everything but seeing absolutely nothing.

 

It disturbed him almost as much as this meeting itself.

Brainz _wasn’t_ going to disregard everything Undyne had caused him prior to this, she was still one of _them;_ one of the worst at that. He put away the anxiety her appearance caused him and his grip on the rifle became aggressive: Brainz violently jerked it at her.

“ **_You!_ ** Get on the ground, _now!_ If I see so much as a blue _anything,_ I’ll blow yer _fucking_ head off!! Now **_DOWN!”_ **

 

She didn’t need nor deserve to know that he wouldn’t be able to distinguish anything blue as her skin itself was just a gray gradient to him. She also didn’t need to know that his decision not to pull the trigger right here and now wasn’t solely a decision so much as an unforeseen incapacity. Honestly, the fact that he _did_ recognize her was the only reason he didn’t pull it again.

Undyne hadn’t even _moved_ or made an effort to acknowledge anything he said; she looked like she was muddling in her own world, hunched over and with that glazed look on her. She looked absolutely _lost._ Brainz, though…

“ **_HEY!_ ** Did you not fucking _HEAR ME?!-”_

 

He flounced threateningly up to her, a risk considering their past altercations. Brainz all but intruded onto her personal space and forced the muzzle of his M16 into her slightly agape and half toothless maw.

“-I said get **_DOWN!!!”_ **

The way his voice broke for a moment, it was like he was begging.

 

Brainz would back away right after this, a precaution formed from what happened next.

 

The one eye, empty and lost looking; an iris had suddenly formed from the nothingness. It was _red_ and nothing else. Undyne had a subtle twitch that shook her entire being and then she let out a long breath, as if she had been revived once more by this interaction. This small and unfocused sploth of an eye began to move…only stopping when she was surely looking directly at Brainz. It was an empty expression that told him _nothing,_ and gave him _everything_ to fear.

 

He failed to stop a shudder from resonating in his voice, but he kept his composure and shook the gun at her for a final time. He emphasized this final warning by pulling his words up an octave or two.

“You won’t _fucking_ get away this time, you monster motherfucker! I will fucking **_END_ ** you!! GET. ON THE **_GROUND!!”_ **

 

Every moment of this added to this specialized kind of sub-hell, shrouded in doubt and hostility. He wasn’t sure if he was going to shoot, he wasn’t even certain he would be able to kill her if he did, and the worst part of this was that reason for both of these doubts was that he couldn’t hide the fact that he didn’t _want_ to shoot her in the end. That would be what killed him, wouldn’t it?

Undyne still didn’t react beside the sudden eye that met him, the red that infected her. She just stared and took these long but shallow breaths.

 

In his second opportunity for observation Brainz noticed something about one of her limp, dangly arms: the gauntlet at the end of it was absent, revealing the bare claws to the open. There was something clutched in them.

 

“(What)S’that in your hand? _Drop it!_ No sudden moves, or you’re _dead!_ ”

She didn’t do that, but it seemed she received the subject of the command. Undyne slowly lifted the thing and clutched it in both of her battered limbs. While she disobeyed Brainz again, it didn’t exacerbate the tension anymore than it already was. It wasn’t like it was an actual _weapon_ or anything, it just looked like a dusty piece of fabric she was cradling in her arms for some reason. Brainz squinted at it; it looked like striped poncho or something similar, it didn’t have any arm holes in it.

 

…

 

His eyes opened up very slowly, the realization took its time and his voice dropped to a mutter.

“No…”

 

Brainz shook his head over and over. At first he was doing it merely to disagree.

“No-no-no. No.”

 

But Undyne… The look she gave him after bowing her head to the child sized sweater; It overshadowed even the reality of their hatred for each other. **_Not when a child was involved… But that didn’t matter anymore._ **

 

[Our mutual friend...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh-CWoAXV8g)

 

She whispered to the sweater and clutched it with every bit of agony striking her.

“You were supposed to stay in the shelter…”

The garment was brought to her ruined face and it didn’t do much to suppress a sob.

 

Brainz’s weapon was lowered, there was just too much despair weighing him down to even focus.

“Ohhh _no-no_ nooo…”

 

He covered his head with his hands and turned around, unwilling to witness this any longer. His rejections melded into a long and monotonous groan. The bile pervading in him came back, it burned every inch of his being and he could feel it trying to seep out from his eyes and welling up in his throat. He spun back with his hands painfully clenched and shouted.

“WHO THE FUCK DID THIS?!”

 

As if he didn’t know… But that terribly ill and festering piece of him wanted to know what she’d say. If she was going to blame it all on him. The same part was still unsure if she’d be right about that.

 

The wounded monster only shook _her_ head as it burrowed into the sweater, its fabric becoming more damn with pink tears.

“They just wanted to be hero. Fucking. _Kid._ ”

It was like Brainz didn’t even matter to her anymore. The grief was so merciless that she couldn’t even speak coherently over her keening. Not until her wails ran dry and left nothing but a sniveling whisper.

“But there’s _nothing_ left to save…”

 

Undyne let her trembling claws release the garment she’d just hugged so tightly. The sweater fell into the puddle and sank as it soaked the water.

 

The sound of a weapon burst into the air. It wasn’t for her, because she still existed enough to look up from the now ownerless garment towards the proximal sound.

  


Brainz had turned back to the one warm body laying on the ground and began putting round after round into the soldier’s head from the sidearm he stole. There was barely anything left above the shoulders when the pistol clicked dry, that didn’t stop him from kicking the bloody mess numerous times and spattering the blood up to his knee.

“You _fuckers!_ You _motherf-_ **_FUCKERS!”_ **

 

He cried out furiously to the last kick and stopped only from exertion. He grunted hysterically with each breath.

“Why _,_ just _fucking why_ ?! **_What’d they ever DO to you?!-”_ **

 

Undyne watched in silence as the scene unfolded. Brainz gave the body one last, _good_ kick to the ribs.

“-You **_cock-SUCKERS!!”_ **

 

That seemed to be the last of it. Brainz’s huffs and wheezes would slow down as would his body language and nervous pacing. He never fully removed his attention from the monster still standing before him and made spontaneous glances at her. He was audibly shuddering now and leisurely reloaded the Beretta. The magazine slid from the grip and clattered to the ground, Brainz grabbed the first of two reserve magazines from his coat and slid it into the gun. He looked up to Undyne again, and a monotonous drawl was uttered.

“I’m gonna kill- _every -_ last one of these rats.”

 

A manic little giggle crept out from him. He sniffled and stuttered.

“Oh-hoho, _yah._ Every l-last one! And _then?_ A-and then. And then when I’m all done? _Then_ i’ll kill Asgore.”

 

He depressed the lever on the side of the gun and the slide came forward, closing closed the gun with a swift **_*Klack!*_ **

 

This declaration of intent garnered her response. Undyne was close to death and sounded about as serious as it too. She couldn’t have mustered any will or energy to be as she was before, to be anything but desolate and weak. She glared at Brainz, watching him return the pistol to that coat that used to belong to her.

“You’re no better than them…”

 

He was unwilling to let out anymore emotion and merely grunted as he shifted some of the weapon magazines to different spots.

“Oh yeah? Tell me about it.”  


She did, there was nothing else she could do and both them had the same idea that she wasn’t in any shape to fight. She could just talk, and barely at that through her sorrow and trauma.

“That’s what they wanted to do…”

 

She had a pause and began to slouch to one side, Brainz would’ve thought she was able to collapse she was dropping so much. It wasn’t until he realized she was trying to look behind him that he figured what she was doing. The body behind him didn’t sway her disposition towards him at all.

“The soldiers… **_You’re no better than them, they’re no better than you._ ** You humans are all the same.”

 

“ _Hey._ I _never_ wanted anything to happen to this kid, I did everything I could to keep them away from this.”

Brainz suddenly retorted. It wasn’t like he wanted the validation of someone like _her,_ but he couldn’t help but feel distressed from what she said. To him, what she said was a blatant lie.

The gun in his hand would be shaken at her in a non threatening way, more so for him to coax his train of thought out. He threw any remaining caution for her away and got real close.

 

“You wanna say it’s my fault this happened to them? _Fine,_ I’m used to this happening to people I actually care about. But _you_ had just as much of a part as I did, you _know_ you did. It wasn’t the military that killed them in cold blood. It was _us,_ it was a team effort and we’re both damned just a little bit more for it.”

 

She didn’t say anything, she was too tired to argue… Especially when she truly couldn’t rebuke it. She was content to stand there with that half conscious glaze in her deformed eye. Brainz would scoff and make a disgusted kind of sneer on his face before he backed down from her. He contemplated something for a moment and then kneeled on his good leg. The ownerless child sized sweater that stood between him and Undyne received his attention for one last time. Of course he changed his entire demeanor, _anything_ for them.

 

“Kid. I am so sorry. You didn’t deserve all this. Not _me_ , not nothin… If god really is real, can you ask him why he let someone like you cross paths with someone like _me?”_

 

He finished this little ‘tribute’ of his and propped himself back up with his rifle and put his attention back to Undyne for the final time. He decided to be upfront with her, considering both of them were on limited time.

“I’m leaving now. If you want to try to ‘wreak your vengeance’ or avenge your people, can you tell me now? We’ll get this over with.”

He pulled the slide on the M16 back just enough to check it.

 

“Just **go** …” **  
** Undyne lost her footing and went to her knees, she was going to fall over soon and less soon wouldn’t exist anymore. She didn’t have a chance in hell with this man, and certainly didn’t with the army; this was only forced into her face over and over again with each and every pile of dust she failed to prevent. Her breathing began to quiver again, tears fell into the puddle beneath her and she slouched over waiting to die.

 

Brainz took what she said at face value and dignified it by walking without saying another word or making any snide remarks. As he passed her, none of them even turned their heads. Undyne however muttered to herself over and over.

“The **y** just wanted to be a her **o** …”

“They j **u** st wanted to be **a** he **r** o…”

“Th **e** y just wa **n** ted t **o** be a hero…”

“They jus **t** wanted to be a hero…”

“They just w **a** nted to be a hero…”

“They just wanted to be a **hero** …”

 

Brainz stopped and turned around back to the slumped monster. She was wallowing in her own world of despair now and nothing would pull her out except the merciful embrace of death. He knew this to be true, because he was still lingering in his own. She was in hell with him now, no doubt about it. She got what she deserved, right? She earned herself a good remainder to the rest of  her miserable life to be plagued by the reminiscence of a forsaken child.

He approached her hunched over form and waited for the reaction, his footsteps splashed in the puddle and hit her with droplets.

“What do you want…”

 

This desolate grunt came from her almost immediately. Brainz wouldn’t answer and would continue to stand in her presence until Undyne had to address him with more energy. She turned her head and wearily snarled at him.

“I said what do you _want._ Come to rub it all in whatever’s left of my face? Frolic in your little nightmare you brought here? Is _that_ it?”

 

But her eye widened as something caught it.

“Huh?...”

 

Brainz was holding out his hand for her to see, to see the M67 resting on his palm. Undyne looked to him, lost. Brainz only affirmed his intention behind this by saying ‘Take it’ and holding the hand out even closer. It wasn’t an attack, the safety pin was firmly in place and the explosive was safe; he was _giving_ it to her.

 

She slowly took it off of him but held it between them even as Brainz retracted his arm.

“You know how to use it?”

 

Undyne nodded dolefully, albeit confused. It was met with a positive nod from Brainz.

“Alright… I’ll see you later then.”

 

He got back to his feet and walked away, leaving her glancing from him to the explosive he gave her. They would never see each other again. The world suffered another tremor as Brainz disappeared into the darkness. The glow from his weapon’s flashlight would be the last of him that she saw as he kept going.

  
  


He was walking away one grenade short because he realized that he didn’t hate Undyne. They were anything but friends, but that didn’t mean she deserved to rot like he did; laying in a puddle of her own hopes and dreams.  She fought hard, she gave it her best... but it wasn’t enough.

 

He didn’t hate her. He hated himself, and how much she had in common with him now, but he didn’t hate her. He didn’t hate her so much that he would want to take the choice away from her of how she would go out. The one thing he felt should never be stripped from a person, he gave it to her. Whether she wanted to get it over with now, wait until it became unmistakingly bleak, or to wait until more soldiers came by so she could take as many of them with her as she could. It was her one final liberty even as she failed to respect the same for Brainz when she had him facing his own mortality; he felt it wasn’t out of malice so much as naïveté.

 

He wouldn’t hear an explosion coming from behind anytime soon. It didn’t make him anxious, but he had this passive hope that she would be able to pull the pin eventually as the thought of her getting more abused by the soldiers actually made him feel ill.

 

“HOW _SWEET_ OF YOU, THAT REALLY WAS SOMETHING. BUT DID YOU THINK GIVING HER THE MEANS TO DO WHAT YOU’RE COWARDLY TO DO WOULD MAKE IT ALL BETTER?”

 

The red fires emitted no light, yet he could make them out right away. Those mirrored eyes glinted with the reflection of his flashlight. Brainz just kept walking with his guard up and weapon drawn.

 

“HOW YOU, _RIPPED_ AND _TORE_ EVERYTHING AWAY FROM HER? I DIDN’T THINK YOU COULD FORGET SOMETHING LIKE _THAT…_ YOU REMEMBER THAT? HOW YOU DID IT IN FRONT OF THE KID BEFORE YOU GOT THEM KILLED?”

  


“Leave me alone…”  


“YOU KNOW YOU DIDN’T WIN, YOU ONLY CONVINCED HER THAT _SHE_ DIDN’T. SHE MADE YOU LOSE CONTROL, AND YOU FAILED TO KILL HER. YOU KNOW YOU CAN’T, THAT’S WHY YOU MADE HER DO IT HERSELF. WHAT’LL HAPPEN WHEN YOU _DO_ GET TO ASGORE? SETTLE FOR A CUP OF TEA AND LACE IT WITH HEMLOCK WHEN HE’S NOT LOOKING?”

“Just shut the fuck up and leave me alone…”

 

There was only her sadistic laughter coming from all around him, emanating from the dark. It would follow Brainz wherever he went. Where was he going anyway?

 

He wandered through the dark until he found a clearing to his left. Remembering how he arrived here the second time, he decided he would retrace his steps and return to the riverbank. There would be a glance over his shoulder every five seconds, a paranoid twinge that just wouldn’t go away but would never come to fruition. He didn’t encounter anything else on the way, with the only thing he’d hear from time to time being the sound of rocks falling somewhere nearby, usually accompanied by the ground tremors.

 

Well… As for what he was trying to do? He found the river again, and big surprise; there wasn’t anybody there. No sign of the strange figure or their boat, what did Brainz expect? Certainly not that he would have to go for a swim in this, yet he also didn’t expect that he would put himself back through the funhouse that was this entire world with the newfound joy of spontaneous firefights. Expectations didn’t do much for him.

 

He shined his light into the stream; it was black to the point that it looked like the river was running with  motor oil, and was anything but calm. It rippled and splashed against the walls of the channel like any body of water would do in a torrential storm. He aimed his weapon light to either end of the water; which way did he come from again? Which way would bring him back to the hotland and not somewhere completely new and damning?

 

That didn’t really matter all too much when he was still occupied on how he was going to traverse this. Despite the drastic climate change here, Brainz was adamant to the suspicion that this water was as cold as every other body of it down here. It smelled kind of funny too, but that could’ve just been from all the blood clotting in his nose.

 

It seemed his lack of desire to traverse the entire underground again was going to beat his doubt in ability to swim this channel, however. He wasn’t amazing at swimming and his lack of calories and legitimate rest put up a good risk of tiring and drowning under the weight of his stuff. How long was this river again? Whatever, didn’t matter. Brainz sighed irritatedly and turned around.

 

“What. The hell?”

He failed to notice on the way here with his limited vision that there was something propped up against one of the trees that lined this passage. It was a tall and decently wide rubber looking thing, it was easy to miss the first time because of its black color. However from the perspective he was at now;  there was writing on the side of it done in some bright color that reflected his flashlight. Brainz tilted his head to read it.

 

**_US COAST GUARD_ **

**_PART TYPE: (Inapt numbers and serial codes)_ **

**_2-LR_ **

**_DEPLOYABLE TWO-MAN LIFERAFT._ **

**_(Irrelevant numbers and serial codes)_ **

 

He squinted and back away a few steps from the initial inanity of this. He was anything but appreciative, nothing but abject confusion.

“ _Coast Guard???_ The’ells _this_ doin’ down here? Why’d they bring a **_boat?_ ** (I don’t..)”

 

The disturbed river took his attention again and made him consider some of the connections. Brainz would make some short lived sighs and incomplete scoffs as he worked through it in his head. He gestured to the water with his free hand.

“Ok, I guess _that_ explains how they got _ahead_ of me- fuck’n backstabber told’em what to do… But how did they know to bring these?”

 

It made as little sense as everything else down here, and this was the _military…_ from the _surface…_ Things were actually _supposed_ to make sense up there, sometimes.

“Talk about ‘Deus Ex Machina’. Was this thing here the whole time?”

Judging from the water still beading off of it, it probably wasn't. Brainz would’ve noticed something like this when seeing more than five yards in front of him wasn’t considered a luxury. Brainz tucked the rifle under his arm and lifted the raft off from the tree, he carried it to the river and threw it down with his hand gripping one of the handles to keep it from going off without him.

“( _Huff)_ It’s a miracle we didn’t run into someone on this. More reason that _something_ wants me alive.”

 

Ultimately, he decided he was going to take river to the right. There probably wasn’t any influence to the fact that going left would vaguely go in the direction back to The Ruins or the fact that there was a sensed current trying to take the raft to the right. He didn’t really have anything to paddle with and was in no mood or condition to try going against this. He gave the newly deceased world of ‘Snowdin’ a final glance; there was nobody here for him, there never really was in the first place.

 

His duffel bag boarded the raft first, then the gun with the only source of light, and then with the aid of said light Brainz boarded it last and sat down with his belongings tucked between his open legs.

 

With a good hint of trepidation in his voice, he closed this particularly horrible chapter of his life and declared the start of a new one.

“Ere we _go…”_

 

He let go of the ground and boat got to moving right away, Brainz shouldered his weapon and pointed it forward.

 

This felt a little surreal. Brainz thought of those boat attractions inside of amusement parks, except all the lights went out on this one. That unused flashlight of his would actually see some use here; he brought it out and used it every time he decided he needed to turn around and check for anything coming up behind him. It was easier than having to pick up and aim the gun, which was now propped up on the boat facing forward.

 

Minutes passed, maybe ten or twenty at the very least; he really didn’t know. That soldier he looted had been wearing a watch; it probably would’ve been a good idea to ‘borrow’ it along with his equipment. Really though, Brainz was just looking for something to occupy him once he realized he went more than five minutes without someone trying to kill him which left him alone with his thoughts… That wasn’t something he wanted. He yawned and shook his head.

“Eeugh, how long _is_ this place? Did I miss the damn exit _again?_ ”

 

He aimed that flashlight of his toward the wall every five seconds he went without turning around; there was no logical chance that he would miss an exit. Naturally, he didn’t trust himself and would assume that he did. It was nothing short of a harrowing experience being subjected to this kind of darkness and unsurety.

 

_IT DOESN’T HELP THAT I CAN SEE EVERYTHING YOU DO. I’M ALWAYS WATCHING._

 

Sometimes… _they_ accosted him. Disembodied faces of hate and malice, all visible in her crimson presence. Red lights, red like the police lights. Were they ever going to stop?

 

Five! This is five, _FIVE!_ Ignore the sirens! Even if you leave this place, you will _never_ leave this place.

 

EIGHT. THIS IS EIGHT. WE’VE KILLED YOUR FRIENDS… _EVERY_ FRIEND IS NOW _DEAD…_

 

**_Stop._ **

 

A change in the scenery. As he drifted further away from Snowdin, the suffocating atmosphere weakened until its grasp on him was completely gone. The fog had dissipated and the temperature dropped to something just brisk. Only now though did Brainz distinguish something down the line from him. Instead of him parting the ceaseless wall of pure darkness with his meager lights, he could see there was something else that dared to defy the pitch black world. A glow, a sign of life he’d inevitably approach.

 

It could’ve been anything, the grim radiance of a fire burning into the world, or the artificial shine of military equipment and impending death. Whatever it was, it was surely better than lingering in the dark. Brainz rested his weapon and began assisting the raft forward by paddling with his hands off the side of it. He had to get out of here.

 

The light actually actually seemed to grow closer, it had definition: he could see it filling the area ahead. He gave the raft all the persuasion he had to get back to reality.

 

“What was that…”  
  
He stopped paddling the raft and flicked his personal torch to behind him, to the dark hellscape regurgitating him. This noise, it was a very subtle noise but constant too. It sounded like something was splashing in the water behind him, and not ceasing or tiring.

“Who’s doing that?! Who’s there?!”

 

The light would retreat from the dark water for just a moment, but would return in the company of the gaze of the M16. The sound of disturbed water grew louder and larger, but nary the source was found. No bubble or visible shapes below the surface no matter how hard he looked.

 

It wasn’t a delusion, it wasn’t her, it was _REAL._ He could _feel_ it, it was shaking the goddamned raft like boat during a storm! This wasn’t something a delusion could do, something was _doing this!_ He was so close to the light, he couldn’t let them take it away from him, not when he was _this close!_

 

He lurched around his small refuge from the water in a frenzy, just yearning for a chance to see it from over the edge. The movements would stop though… They would come to an end upon the sight of something unrelated to his raft. The water itself was _moving_ as a whole, the entire river seemed to be seesawing left and right. Water careened up the walls, splashing up to the low ceiling at points. It wasn’t him and it certainly wasn’t the work from a single being, it was another earth tremor.

 

Brainz felt his balance weakening as the boat was tossed and jostled to and fro, he was on the worst kind of surface for this to happen and it seemed the world saved its worst and longest tremor yet all for this occasion. The world _rumbled_ all around him,was almost as if it itself was groaning from agony. He could hear multitudinous splashing noises coming from all around as if parts of the ceiling were falling into the water. The final noise to accompany and lead this cacophonous ensemble would stick out as loud _cracking_ noise. It was as if someone was colliding hand blasters with each other: over and over, louder and louder, faster and faster.

 

Those cracks in the ceiling weren’t there until he looked up and they certainly weren’t growing in size and number either; what did it mean?

 

Brainz shouted and cupped his ears. A deafening sound erupted from the rock above him, it never ceased but also never reached the volume of its debut. He found his flashlight within the raft and aimed it towards the ceiling.

 

A massive portion of the ceiling had dropped lower, soon it would become independent as a titanic sized chunk of earth would impact the water with an appropriately deafening splash . The entire channel turned into a pressurized jet, propelling everything in it like a bullet fresh out of a chamber.

 

His yell of sudden terror would be drowned out by the raging water.

  
**29:29:29**

**29:29:28**

**29:29:27**

**#$ &*89ERRI P23=-7**

_**29:25:58** _

_**29:25:57** _

**29:25:56**

**...**

 

[C219CONCLUSIONsting@i344](https://youtu.be/-AK1MVjR8XU)

 


	20. [RED  How I [Sic] learned to stop [ACT]ing and learn to LOVE the [FIGHT] E502

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sound you heard LOVES to love.   
> Sometimes cleaning with water makes it worse but it's nothing good ole elbow grease won't fix.  
> Hot to the touch. 
> 
> I said I wasn't going to do that again, guess that's makes us both wrong.  
> What?  
> WHy?   
> then?
> 
>  
> 
> *R #W%502
> 
> It's getting hard to think clearly, I think my head got waterlogged, I'm already afraid of electricity I don't need to be afraid of water now. I don't want to forget again... but I can feel it slipping. She's just as I remember... right? 
> 
> Wet a minute!   
> Why did the river have trouble remembering things?  
> Because it's becoming SEA-NILE. 
> 
> 2#899f  
> c
> 
> :c   
> C:   
> :)   
> :))))))

“Whoa,  _ shit!”  _

Brainz threw himself to the right: his grip on the steering wheel became the only thing keeping him from falling onto the ripped vinyl of the passenger seat. A muffled screeching sound came from under the vehicle as it followed Brainz’s motions and veered to the right; almost colliding into the guard rail that segregated the exit from the rest of the four lane highway. He sat himself up straight again and rotated the wheel back to its default position. Brainz calmed his breathing and slouched back into the depression imprinted into his seat. 

 

The backside of large green sign shrank and vanished in his rearview mirror; it briefly lit up from the gaze of another vehicle’s headlights: the reflective message becoming blatant to the driver behind the wheel.

**_MT EBOTT_ ** **^**

**_EXIT 200_ ** **>**

**_REST STATION ½ Mile_ **

 

The vehicle behind him chose to stay on the highway; leaving Brainz only to the company of the black Impala’s heater. He flipped his hood down from his head for what must’ve felt like the fiftieth goddamn time and argued with a yawn. 

“H _ uuuuoghh.  _ Come  _ on,  _ stay  _ awake!  _ That was too close!”  __

 

Brainz turned the dial near the breathing heat vent as far as it’d go on the red gradient painted next to it. Sweat beaded all over him: the inside of the car was like a sauna; except stickier; but not enough apparently to keep him from falling asleep. A small display next to the dial told him some facts about his current endeavor.

**1:16 AM**

**EXT: 52F**

**FAN: -||||||||||-**

 

Brainz made an unburdened snort and smirked while his head shook.

“Imagine if I just kept **_goin._ ** Fuck  _ me;  _ that woulda sucked. Reckon I’d run into: what; the county line? Hoo boy, that coulda been bad. Baaad, bad bad.”

 

**“WRONG TURN?”**

Brainz would see a red face in the mirror creeping up to his neck; her mouth was like a grinning shark. 

 

The scream of surprise and terror from him cut off when the car veered off the road and crashed dead into a tree. The only sound afterwards was the lingering tone of the vehicle’s horn; his head resting atop of it... A boney claw gently pulled the hood over his head. 

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The pressure between his ears was rather intolerable, the water had plugged up his eardrums and secluded him from the audible world. Nothing but a muffled thumping that twinged in his head, it would just barely take precedence over the dull ringing. He tried to breathe but it felt like something was in the way of his windpipe: blocking anything from coming through. He gagged and felt the mass rising behind his ribs with each wretch. The water was expelled from his throat with the most excruciating of coughs and Brainz would sustain them with that involuntary gasp for life. He regained the ability to open his eyes as well as the feeling in his extremities: it was like the numbness was draining from him and his consciousness was filling in the vacant space. His throat crackled with every rasp: spewing cold droplets of water into the air. At last he was breathing more than he was choking: Brainz managed a couple more hacks out of will to relieve himself of the ticklish feeling still in his throat. 

He found himself lying flat on a piece of ground; he was soaked from his head to his toes; feeling like a half drowned animal inside of a storm drain.

“That’s…  _ twice. _ I almost drowned…”

He had tiredly murmured to himself while his words were still fragmented by straggling, throaty coughs.  Brainz squinted his pulsating eyes; as the light was too overbearing for him in his current state. He groaned and held up an arm to shield his face from the harsh glow from above. 

“Huuhmn?”

In his head; that was how he came to terms with the returning ability to see without a flashlight; wherever he was; it was filled with that ambient and omnipresent light that defied physics. He groaned through his teeth as he tried to sit up; his head felt like it was full of lead but was just about the only thing he could really maneuver right now. 

 

He could see everything below his neck splayed out on the soaked ground: beyond his feet; he could see a massive facade of fallen rocks and toppled boulders with streams of water seeping through the numerous gaps. It looked like the entire river channel imploded; Brainz came to this conclusion before considering his place in it.

“Hooo.  _ Sheeeit.” _

 

Awe managed to find itself in his tired and waterlogged voice. 

“I coulda been  _ in  _ that… Jesus Christ. How did I even…”

 

Brainz would never notice in the soaked ground before him that there were two faint drag marks lining up with his legs that ran from the wall of debris. A late assessment on his situation caused him to jitter anxiously.

“Where’s my stuff?”

There was no sign of the raft he was in… Or the possessions he brought onto it. He made a terrible miserable groan only limited by his damp lungs. 

“(Of)  _ Fucking  _ course…  **ow.”**

Letting his head drop back to the ground for the momentary defeat didn’t go as planned: Brainz felt more than discomfort when his head bumped against something other than waterlogged soil. He found that the M16 had doubled as his headrest for the duration of his stay on the ground. His duffel bag was also laying around. Everything seemed to be as unnaturally placed here as Brainz; this didn’t dissuade any of his suspicions about his life now. Ok not  _ everything:  _ the mag light would never be found; but at least everything else was accounted before: just a little bit worse for the wear with water. 

“Huh… that’s. A first.”

 

After wringing himself out the most he could and a weapons’ function check: Brainz was back on his feet and proceeding through the only path he could. 

  
  
  


“ _ Ohhh  _ wait…  _ I  _ know where I  _ am.  _ Fuuuckk.” 

 

**Woah There! Haven’t seen a face like** **_yours before!_ **

**_With all that RED on your hands? They’ll be dust stained before you ever leave…_ **

**Just try it** **_sonny._ ** **I** **_know_ ** **you can’t. Not** **_here… Wah ha-_ **

  
Brainz could hear the impact of the punch echoing through the halls; the sound of the turtle spinning on his shell after the fact. How right that old monster was, maybe he knew just how apt that prediction of his was. Brainz was going to hell. 

 

It was like staring into a room filled with poison gas. Every inch of his being wanted him to get away, never to look back. There was no desire to investigate, to see if there was a body or pile of dust behind that gem studded counter: to see that goddamned rune on the crest above the doorway. He didn’t think of his next move, he just did: Brainz turned left and ran from the shop entrance and its self proclaimed box. 

 

[Waterlogged](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgBc5vwIJm0)

It was the wrong turn, he ended up in that five way room; where every path he took and came from inflicted more and more trauma on him. Brainz immediately noticed the ‘evil pool’ in the middle of the room; the red eyes that accosted him and the crying… The damned crying that never stopped; it felt like he could put those gut wrenching sobs to a person now, that poor kid was now nothing more than another burden on his back; a sin drilling into his skull. They all weighed on him and slowed him down; how he could he go to heaven when he died? The weight of it all would pull him right down! 

 

_They were all going to hell for what they’ve done… everyone except HIM._ _A floater was nearby, he dared to intrude on the sacred pool of tears. His body polluted the waters._

 

“Oh my god…”

There was a body floating on the surface of the pool, face down of course; the black water turned murky RED. There were droplets of blood sprinkled all around the water like confetti. 

 

Breathing became a challenge, he had to release the buttons closest to his neck on the jacket. 

“ _ (Ghuh!)  _ What the  _ FUCK.  _ Is going on?! ( _ HAgh)  _ **Uhnn… my head.”**

 

He didn’t know what to do, the feeling of being trapped and smothered grew inside of him. Where would he go? What would he see? The death was everywhere, it wrapped around every inch of the world and everyone inside. There was no escape was there?  

 

Brainz felt  _ warmth _ radiating onto him, he looked up from the diluted soldier to the world around him.

* * *

 

_ God what a mess… This basement seemed to get worse every time he had to walk down those rotten steps.  _ **_*Creak creak creak*_ ** _ That’s all he’d hear no matter how gently he took to those stairs. He promised he’d get to replacing those right after he’d fulfill his earlier promise to clean this place properly.   _

_ “I hate basements.” _

_ There was just something incongruously erie about them that he could never specify. Perhaps the laden fact that he was sunken into the earth or the paranoid observation that there was only one way in and out… With those creaky steps that told everyone you were down there; not to mention the giant iron beast next to the staircase. This basement was the cave, and the furnace was the monster that lived in it: big, ugly, noisy: it always growled and groaned at him seemingly whenever he had to approach it.  _

_ Today was another basement day; how fun. He had to make his way to the one door below the foundations of the building; he had to pass right by the hot metal monster. He coughed; there was so much DUST in the air! Could this stuff catch fire from the flames behind the monster’s metal maw? Someone told him it could, and everyday he let this place worsen was another chance that he’d come to the wrong conclusion. He felt the excessive heat sticking to his skin as he passed, it was always too hot down here. ‘Just don’t think about it’ He closed his eyes and repeated the thought as the heat on his skin rose, closer and closer with the added delusion that if this thing wanted to; it could come to life and devour him everytime he drew near. Hotter and hotter, it was trying to smother him with its heat. Any closer and he’d burst into flames! Something was wrong, he couldn’t ignore it any longer and opened his eyes. _

 

Brainz gazed into the gullet of the vanquished home of Undyne. The horrible beast that had once swallowed him whole was now crumbling to dust: there would be no visage of what it used to be in the mound of ashes and cinders; no memory of what used to exist here or the strife married to it. The flames had vanished from the surface, but the decay from inside was still going strong: half of it had already collapsed: there was no saving it. The remaining window-eye; the one he had shattered; still stood: it had been blackened and charred by his sin, yet it still accosted him as it ever did. It was his fault after all… 

 

“Stop  _ LOOKING  _ at me like that! Just  **_STOP!”_ **

As much as he demanded; nobody answered, and nobody came. He wasn’t alone though: he found that lively and petty training dummy from before was still here; although it wasn’t in any position to start anything with him. It was dead…

 

Ok, he didn’t know that, but it wasn’t showing any signs of the life it unnaturally had before: it wasn’t moving, it didn’t talk to him, and it didn’t have a head. Brainz looked at the thing laying on the floor, there was a tangle of brown stained fluff and cotton blossoming from the shoulders of the figure. The red and dusty shotgun shells on the ground told something of a sordid tale; the knife from the first encounter was nowhere to be found; but there was no lack of compensation. There were multiple piles of dust underneath the fallen dummy: they all melded together somewhat; but still retained distinguishing sizes and masses that begged to tell of who they used to be. What happened here? What did they do? 

 

“ASHES. ASHES. WE’LL  _ ALL  _ FALL DOWN.”

[Smoke billows from the fissures](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2sUw47TEzY)

  
  


He was hit with this feeling of immense heat once more, a searing light assaulted his eyes. The still smoldering ruins of the imposing home had once more become ablaze; this time in a veil of crimson fire.  _ She  _ was standing in the doorway; the gaping maw of hell. She beckoned to him; inviting him to come closer, to succumb to the flames. He stoked those fires a long time ago and they were growing hellishly impatient to burn him. Not-Toriel began to outstretch one of her charred arms to Brainz. How it stretched and went beyond the limit of reality as it stretched across the dust and cinder filled room. But he refused: Brainz backed away from the wanting claw of the devil and away from the hellfire.

 

The body was still there, floating in the evil pool. With all the water dripping and leaking from the various fissures in the walls and ceiling: it wouldn’t be long before the body would be permitted to float around the entire room. The filthy and wretched waters from the garbage dump would intermingle with the rising level. Brainz only had the active question to keep his mind away from the flames as both he and his weapon stared at the corpse. 

 

“What  _ did  _ this… Something else is killing them besides me. But  _ what?  _ These f- monsters couldn’t kill me unarmed… I don’t-”

 

“HUMANS. ARE UNBELIEVABLY STRONG.”   
  


In a gasp and heartbeat off kilter: his focus and the gun would double back to the red monster. The smoke was billowing from the narrow passage, still burning as long as she existed. She didn’t seem interested in ‘taking’ anymore so much as ‘giving’. Brainz didn’t say a word and only fought to steady the weapon in his hands as the visage continued to talk; her arms were crossed.

“YOU WOULD NEED THE SOUL OF  _ EVERY  _ MONSTER IN EXISTENCE TO MATCH THEM… BUT THE STRONGEST ASPECT OF YOUR SOUL IS THE IRONY INSIDE OF IT. YOUR BODY WILL PERISH AND YOUR SOUL WILL RISE FROM IT: FREED FROM ITS MORTAL BONDS. BUT ANY MONSTER COULD DEVOUR IT AND ENTRAP IT INTO A NEW PRISON. A MONSTER WITH A HUMAN SOUL? A ‘TERRIBLE BEAST WITH UNFATHOMABLE POWER’”

Brainz cocked his head to his shoulder. 

“I. *I*  _ read _ that. How do  _ you  _ know?”

 

The blackened face made a crackling sound as her lips drew to a smile. 

“WHAT’S THE MATTER? CAN’T KEEP TRACK OF YOUR OWN ‘IMAGINATION?’”

 

Brainz paused in his confusion. This was the first time his demon said something he couldn’t even bracket to his own thought. The first time her thoughts were segregated from  _ his,  _ it wasn’t possible.  

 

No, wait. It wasn’t that; he finally came to the conclusion… and she had beaten him to it. It was the first time she had ever gotten it right before he did; but she was nothing more than a figment of his imagination: a bad potato, a blot of undigested mustard. It was becoming harder and harder for him to focus and formulate sane thoughts, and it was only becoming easier for her. It wouldn’t be long before he would consider what she came up with on her own… Which she couldn’t do. It wasn’t like that was possible being she wasn’t real nor capable of independent thought. 

 

Brainz had to convince himself of this… it never crossed his mind until now. For that matter, why was he pointing that gun at her as if threatening a real person? He didn’t need to let her know that she was getting to him. But she already  _ did,  _ and he should  _ know this  _ by now! 

 

In a matter of realization, Brainz lowered his weapon and clutched his forehead with his freed hand. He didn’t put so much force onto his throbbing face as much as cradling it and holding it from drooping. He was fighting a losing battle with himself, with  _ her.  _ She didn’t exist because of his insanity, she existed because she  _ wanted  _ to; he would never find out ‘ _ where’ _ in the dark and secluded piece of his decaying mind she started from; it wasn’t like it mattered now: all the lights inside of his mind were going out and giving her plenty more places to fill in.

 

“So-”

He uncovered his face and looked to her as he would anybody else, no more given contempt or incredulity.

“-You think one of them got the upper hand on somebody and…  _ ‘looted’  _ them?”

The body was very real, it wasn’t going away.

 

Not-Toriel just put more emphasis on that smug grin on her face. The fires were raging inside of her.

“YES. YOU DO.” 

 

“I see…”

 

Brainz leaned towards the ceaseless wall of smoke coming from the path to the guard captain’s reignited ruins. The red glare share between it and her; and those burning footprints she left on the ground.

“AREN’T YOU GOING TO TELL ME IT’S WRONG? THAT EVERYTHING I SAY CAN’T BE?”

 

He shook his head decisively, there was less hesitation in his actions corresponding to her. The last of his logic trying to dissuade him was going dark.

“No.”

 

The smile vanished from her face.

“ _ WHY?” _

 

Brainz became frank, he splayed his arms out and shrugged. His tone became stagnant.

“Well. At this point, I can’t assure for myself that you don’t exist anymore.”

 

She didn’t say anything; Brainz sighed and cleared his throat. 

“I know my mind’s going. Nothing I can do about it, eventually I’m going to swear by my left hand that you were always real. There’s no point in going over the same schlock over and over. I  _ have  _ to get back to Flowey, while I can still remember.”

 

The pool standing between them; reflecting their glowing red eyes; began to simmer and spit scalding drops of red out of itself. The body began to dissociate and it hissed as it disintegrated right in front of him. Brainz closed his eyes and sighed once more.

“I’m done arguing with you, Toriel.”

 

When he opened them again: the body failed to separate him and the red monster. She appeared no more than two steps away from him; reminding him of how much she towered over him. Brainz couldn’t stop himself from flinching, but he didn’t try to hide the fact that her closer presence startled him some. 

“YOU DON’T WANT ME TO PLAY ALONG ANYMORE?  _ FINE.” _

 

Her voice whipped from something sounding exaggeratedly hurt and offended to something spiteful. For the first time; she bared her shark like teeth but not in a smile, she was snarling at him. The ill expression soon left her face. Not Toriel found that ugly smirk of hers again and squinted those mirror like eyes of hers. 

“WELL THEN.. _.I  _ KNOW SOMETHING YOU DON’T.”   
  


“I have no doubt that you do.”   
  


The voice became more exaggerated and teasing.

“ _ OOOHH NO NO NO.  _ **_*I*_ ** KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT  _ FLOWEY  _ THAT YOU DON’T…”

 

This less than sure mutation of her character vanished, her original rendition returned with a mocking giggle. She returned to her form as the dull expression on Brainz shifted.

“What?  **_What…”_ **

She was gone, nothing but her deriding laughter echoing through the room. The moment the bewilderment subsided; Brainz lashed out from the frustration stemming with a stutter.

“Well  **_FUCK_ ** you too! You fucking  **_bitch!”_ **

 

The laughter continued to ridicule him. Brainz growled and covered his ears to drown it out.

“You never told me  _ ANYTHING,  _ you’re FULL OF IT! So  **SHUT UP!”**

 

By the way; the fires went out, but the body was still floating in the pool. Brainz reoriented his things and turned himself decisively towards the way he came.

“What am I even  _ doing?  _ I gotta go  _ that  _ way again!-”

 

He looked back one more time to the empty room only occupied by himself and the body.

“-I’m not gonna let you waste anymore of my time!... With your  _ bullshit!” _

 

That would have to do for now, he was utterly unsatisfied with this conclusion; but he  _ did  _ have a point. Brainz began the long journey of retracing his steps and anticipating more horrors along the way. The first would be the little room where Gerson provoked his own death.

Brainz didn’t  _ have  _ to go in there, he didn’t  _ have  _ to remind himself of that limp body on the floor covered in red dust. He didn’t have to hear the that croaky old voice struggling on its last breaths as he approached the counter. He didn’t have to gaze upon the war relics from a time long passed; hung above the entrance. He didn’t have to do  _ any  _ of that…  **_because there was nothing there. The room was completely empty, not a speck of dust to be seen._ ** He had many questions, had put them with all the others and kept walking.

 

The scriptures on the walls, the fragmented tragedy of this damned world; Brainz tried not to look: but the damn letters were leaping from the frames. Tales of repression and fear, being locked away into this tomb only for the humans to come back and finish them. Watching the wounded lot of monsters scatter like rats inside of a confined space. There was no saving them.

“ **_But they don’t DESERVE_ ** **to be SAVED! What of that are you not** **_*GETTING?!-”_ **

 

Brainz plodded through a damp section of land where a waterfall used to flow; he had to take caution for the second source of water. It looked like someone had turned the pressure valve for it as far as it would go: he’d have to consider his moves as to not be pushed into the abyss from the force of the raging water. 

“-They’re nothing but  **_LIARS_ ** and dirty backstabbing backstabbers!  **_SHE LIED TO ME!_ ** She fucking.  **_LIED_ ** to me!”

 

Nevermind the deathly cold water (He was already thoroughly soaked), or the mounting danger. Brainz forded the second wall of water in the path; still affixed to this sudden wrought tantrum. 

“I DON’T  **_CARE_ ** ABOUT- wait.”

 

All the momentum in him came to a screeching halt. In his torrent of thought and conjured contempt: it was as if something had become lodged in his stream of thoughts. 

“Wait, what  _ about  _ Asriel? Wasn’t he like nine years old or something? I don’t-”

 

What was he questioning? What scruple came into his thoughts that completely hijacked his attention? Whatever it was: he was almost distracted from the outside world.

“What did she  _ tell  _ me? There was another human and that’s why he got out and died? That doesn’t make any sense though, I mean Flowey  _ told  _ me that- wait, what’s that?”

 

In his current state, he couldn’t been oblivious to just about anything… Anything except  _ that  _ sound; the indelible percussion so ingrained into his life.  _ Gunfire:  _ and the echoes were almost on point.  _ It was close…  _ Brainz proceeded at a fraction of his normal pace, now attentive to  _ everything.  _ But  _ especially  _ the gunshots unintended for him. 

 

What came after the two inconvenient waterfalls again? Oh, right… The room of utter darkness and narrow paths laced with radioactive mushrooms of course. At least that’s what it  _ used  _ to be, before the government sanctioned makeover.

 

The mysterious and abyss-like qualities of this place had been overtaken by an amalgam of artificial lights: glowsticks, flares, battery powered lanterns, there were even trails of blinking LED bulbs to indicate the paths. It was like the ride had been turned off and the maintenance lights were on.  God, how narrow those paths really  _ were _ … how did he ever manage to get through here without  _ dying?  _ For that matter… 

 

The sound of death burst into the air, Brainz was persuaded to hit the ground immediately as more gunshots joined in. He killed the flashlight on his weapon and concealed himself into the beginning of the grass. He  _ had  _ to look, because he wasn’t the cause of this commotion. So what was?

 

In the middle of the maze, a large puff of white erupted into the air. It made a hissing sound that was almost as painful to listen to as the gunshots assisted by the grand acoustics of the room. 

 

A shout in the distance, it broke through the dull ringing and confusion.

“  **Mark!** **_Mark!_ ** There’s another one!”   
  


More gunfire, it sounded like two or three rifles joined into the raw symphony. The already hostile lighting was overcome by a near blinding sequence of strobes. There was shouting, there was gunfire: they failed to ever cease and only seemed to get faster. He could see the rapid glimpse of power flashing from the source. The man standing over the once radiant mushrooms: his shouts were defeated by his booming weapon.

 

It was tumultuous: the gunfire was muted by an ever louder sound emanating from the unknown. An unearthly hissing noise that forced every man in the room to cease their fire for their hands had to protect their ears. Then the screaming; it bore out from the tinnitus that followed the painful sound. It was pain personified, upright agony without context or witnessable reason. The observed soldier shouted briefly, then combated the terrible noise with the return of fire. But something happened.

 

It looked like water… A jet of water from  _ somewhere  _ in this maze, sought to drench the soldier. Brainz could see;  **_hear_ ** the steam hissing as it hit the man; the water was scalding hot. The soldier screamed in agony and his weapon dropped from his hands and tumbled into the abyss below; he would follow soon after as he stumbled and covered his blanched face. The scream would carry for more than ten seconds after he was swallowed by the nothingness awaiting below. 

 

“What the fuck was that…” 

 

There was nothing afterwards, they were all consumed by it and now it was all that existed. Not a sound of battle or confrontation. Brainz got to his feet; above the concealing facade of grass; and flicked his light back on. 

 

**_YouR SOUL is FILTHY._ **

 

What the fuck is that?! 

**_WosH with THE OTHERS_ **

  
It spotted him, he could feel the searing heat from the blast of water he narrowly avoided. Brainz backed away from the room and back to solid ground as fast as he could. The maze did absolutely nothing to slow it down, it was propelling itself with its own stream of pressurized hell-water. 

 

**_WOSH IT ALL._ **

 

He didn’t look back, he just ran away, but he couldn’t go very far. The damn waterfall wouldn’t let him escape! Brainz had no choice but to fight. The terror was silenced his finger was gripped onto the trigger. He had a choice to pull it frantically to make this all stop as fast as possible; or to risk additional seconds to aim and put it down with two or three precise shots. The group of the single burst fire was on point; it struck the thing right on its rounded face.  **It didn’t even flinch and continued to make for him.**

 

He shot it again, with less focus and more panic. 

He shot it  _ again.  _ _   
_ **He had to shoot it again. Why wasn’t it slowing** **_down?!_ **

**_Empty the whole fucking gun into it! Kill the motherfucker!!_ **

 

He yelled, stricken with terror and fury as he pulled the semi automatic trigger as fast as he could. It was so close to him now that he could see the dust and mercilessly hot water exploding from every puncture  he inflicted on the damn thing. It didn’t even give off that it was even taking  _ damage.  _ What was he going to do, it was about to reach him and it was eating the ammunition like it was  _ nothing- _

 

**_*CLICK!CLICK!CLICK!CLICK!*_ **

 

The yell leapt and octave and a degree of terror, Brainz threw the empty rifle to the ground and pulled out the beretta as a flinch and last measure. He made his final stand here; he had no other plan otherwise and he wouldn’t have been able to move as his legs rooted themselves where they were from fear. 

 

He pulled the trigger:

**_1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14-_ **

 

It landed right in front of him. This mechanical looking beast with a basin for a body, steam was billowing from its terrible brew. It was riddled with holes and leaking its fluid from nearly all of them, dust broke off from it and diffused into the air. 

**_-15 times._ ** Right into its perforated face. 

 

**_That’s going to make a mess…_ **

  
It burst into a cloud of white smoke, Brainz could feel it sticking to his skin like tar. He coughed raggedly and tried to stop himself so he could focus. It was  _ gone  _ though, the monster was no more. He  _ killed  _ it,  **this** is what it looked it: it was exactly as Burgerpants told him. The thing exploded into dust right before his eyes, the cloud was already beginning to fade as the heavier of the stuff collected into the pile partially covering his feet. What was this? Everything matched the description of mortality, except for the faint reddish glow that began to emerge from the pile of dust. Brainz saw to it immediately and tried to work through the unceasing panic to grab a desperately needed magazine, it was too late for that though… But it wasn’t anything:  _ dangerous?  _

 

It looked like the most basic and crude depictions of a  **_heart_ ** of all things ascended from the formless mass of white powder. It was glowing so slightly, like an ember from a vanquished fire; still warm with life. There was  **_yellow_ ** in the heart, traces of  **_orange;_ ** there was nothing to comprehension. It just floated there; in front of him, Brainz was then overcome by this inclination to  _ touch  _ it: to  _ take  _ it as if he could. The glow went out and suddenly: the little heart shattered into pieces; all of them faded from existence before they could even hit the ground.

 

He recoiled his hand; the sensation had left him and the terror returned for him to slowly calm from. This encounter was over; he won.

 

**_7O^ *)WN!_ **

**_7O^ 3$(INEF 1,240EXP +0)0000_ **

**-=--=-=-=C38 &\-----999,99,999999999999999INF-IND99999UND**

**29:08:09**

**29:08:08**

**29:08:07**

**.,|**

  
  
  



	21. Unauthorized augmentation of this chapter is prohibited.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth was a glaring light washing all the lies away how could I have been so wrong by doubting myself and thinking it could be different I just have the paranoid feeling of someone dictating my everystep before I eventhink of it as if i never had an original thought that hadn't been thought before by someone else AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
> He laughed, laying back down on the cold road in the dead of winter while the cold fell onto him like a blanket of death taking all the life out of him with every flake that touched upon his damned skin, truly reprehensible!
> 
> The danger is intended as per usual but perhaps reaches insurmountable odds at this point of rising consideration which speaks leagues about the story in the future. The outcome is at a subnominal level and shouldn't be taken seriously.

“I can’t take this shit anymore…” 

Brainz was still trying to catch his breath; terror did that to you: the trauma could’ve been  _ long  _ over and he’d still be panting and clutching at his heart. He earned his solitude again, the room was barren of any life except his. Perfect for him to meticulously wade through the maze and commit everything he just endured to thought. He fed the beretta his last spare magazine and brought his rifle ammunition to four remaining reloads the moment his body unfroze from the encounter. 

 

“What kind of fucking thing doesn’t instantly drop from  _ bullets _ ? I thought  _ cokeheads  _ went down hard, but this…” 

His ears were still ringing from all the gunfire and panic, his outer thoughts sounded muffled.  The fact that the demented and hellbent thing wouldn’t stop was still causing him to twitch rather uncontrollably; it was prolonged by the likely possibility that it had already taken an immense amount of fire from the late soldiers before going for Brainz; making his contribution seem even less effective. 

“Do guns just not  _ work  _ here? Is that it?” 

There was as much spite to the question as genuine concern and yet Brainz still found himself snickering without reason or humor. He whined as it died down.

“It just keeps getting worse, it’s not gonna stop-”

He felt an uncontrollable laugh crashing into the back of his throat and sinuses; he shuddered.

“-it’s just gonna  _ keep  _ on going until it’s just  _ nothing!” _

He finally gave in and laughed, the funniest part about it was that it sounded nothing like a laugh. 

 

Despite the whole room being as lit up as it was; he still had to proceed slowly. It wasn’t like he had to get out of here as fast as he could for the risk of something else seeing him; no not at all. It wasn’t even that he didn’t even  _ want  _ to keep going out fear for what would be waiting for him; certainly not. He was just too wrapped up in his thoughts wondering how this could get even  _ worse  _ to spare himself the surprise of when it certainly did. 

“What was that?”

 

This was the sixteenth time he stood up and surveyed the entire room through the red eye mounted on his gun; this time it was because of a noise he made out above the ear ringing. It was just the sound of water running somewhere nearby… which is exactly why he was spooked. He even whispered to negate the noise he made.

“F-f-fucking thing. Fucking monsters, they’re all bad. I swear to god.”

 

It turned out that the running water sound was attributed to the new ‘waterfall’ that had been added to the room. The sole path that lead to the exit was flooded and spewing continuous stream of water that fell into the abyss. Brainz would have no choice but to go against it and resist letting it carry him off the path too. He would try to reserve himself to be rather indifferent about this.

“That’s fine,  _ really.  _ Talking about shit getting worse and  _ hey;  _ I’m already wet and cold and tired and hungry and scared for my life and getting hopeless and drowning in my own head and just. It’s  **_fine…”_ **

 

The water was so cold that it felt like it turned every drop of blood below Brainz’s thighs solid. He remembered having to wade through a pond on his first way here; not so much the waterfall or the  _ downpour  _ coming from above. He saw rain down here before, right? It wasn’t  _ here  _ though was it?  The world didn’t tremble so much that the near waist high water threatened another tidal wave last time either. The briefly lived rapid ensured all of him would be soaked in the ice water, more chunks of the unseen ceiling splashed all around him. Brainz scrambled to get away from the edge of the flow.  

 There was something up ahead that he could see, it looked like a dim light or something; he could barely make it out but it looked  _ different:  _ the same kind of different that the heart did rising from the dust.The uncanny ambient lighting of the passage began to dim though, making his only point of interest much easier to see. The earth tremors would persist and the lights above would not.

“Ohhh shit,  _ shit.  _ Not again!”

 

The downpour of ‘rain’ suddenly turned into geysers that erupted from the ceiling; it was as if the ocean was coming down upon this cursed world. Just as he got the taclight to come on; the given world of light was no more than a sea of blackness. Brainz found himself struggling against the violent torrent of water as the writhing trauma repeated itself once more. The force of the dark water only strengthened, Brainz’s hold weakened.  

“Noo _ NOO!  _ Fuck you!!”

 

He thrashed against the current; his profane sounds of duress were cut off by gags and coughs as the raging stream overtook his head again and again.

“No-  _ STOP!-”  _

 

He drove himself to that beckoning glow like it would save his life. He was striving for the only source of life while death’s cold embrace tried to drown him in its negligent pursuit to nothingness. Everytime he emerged from the water with a gasp, it was all for that light up ahead.  How it begged him to persist; impressing upon him with sensations of…  _ confusion?  _ Persecution. Every glance became a shockwave of every bad feeling welling inside of him. What  _ was  _ this thing and why was he trying so hard to reach it when it was  _ doing  _ this to him?! Why was this happening?!  On the final glance; he was instilled with such a feeling of guilt that he lost all focus on surviving. Brainz ceased to feel the ground holding him to the world, he was swept away by the water. Brainz didn’t resurface after this, his yells stopped, the tremors soon ceased and there would be  nothing but the sound of the guilty water persuading all that entered it to follow into oblivion. Not a shred of light except for what couldn’t have saved him up ahead; the only thing spared from the watery grave. 

 

It was funny. That strange light that he saw, it wasn’t  _ ‘strange’  _ at all in the end and it wasn’t the light itself that did this to him. It was  _ blue... _ The light was blue. 

 

**28:40:41**

**28:40:40**

**…**

**_…._ **

 

 

 

**_It’S NOT OVER YET_ **

**_28:40:3928:40:38_ **

**_28:40:37_ **

**_28:40:36_ **

**_28:40:35_ **

**_28:40:34_ **

**_28:40:33_ **

**_28:40:32_ **

**_28:40:31_ **

**_28:40:30_ **

  
  
  


**_What Makes a Monster?_ **

**_Bad_Dreems, Mz_Mere_ **

* * *

 

**_Chapter 22:_ ** _ C2A22DECLAREDTITLE _

_Chapter by_ _ Bad_Dreems, Brainz _

**_Summary:_ **

* * *

 

**_C2A22tootltip# 0\/3R1D3_ **

_ We’ll see about this _

_ I don't feel like I'm in control of my own thoughts anymore, it's like everything I've ever thought has already been thought of by somebody else. _

_ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA _

_ Funny as hell, it's the most horrible thing I didn't think of. _

_ It's so fuck'n cold in here, I want to go home... _

_ Where is home, I don't know, it's just not here. _

_ It's getting really bad now, I can feel it: I need to get out of here. _

 

 

 

How long die he lay there? Laying in the middle of the cold while more of it fell from the sky; dancing in the air as each flake descended from the gray mass that blocked out the night stars. The trees stood tall all around him, lining the road in the middle of nowhere. He could see the glare of the taillights everytime he closed his eyes: they were gone and he was going to be too.

_ I’m so cold…  _   
He could’ve easily frozen to death long before his form would glow from the headlights, fit to remain there and die but that wasn’t an option. That purpose that forced him to move despite the grizzly wounds that let his life out onto the black road, the force that dared to fight in the face of death. That’s why the next metal beast heeled before his presence, he stood up before its yellow eyes. With not a remnant of strength to burn;  _ he stood up by the power of sheer  _ **_DETERMINATION._ **

 

**_HE HAD TO GET UP, BUT IT WASN’T FOR HIM._ **

**_GET UP, DO NOT DIE. YOU AREN’T_ ** **_ALLOWED_ ** **_TO DIE_ **

 

**_ᵀʰᵉ ᵗʰᵒᵘᵍʰᵗ ᵒᶠ ᴰʸᴵᴺᴳ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵍᵒⁱⁿᵍ ᵒᵘᵗ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᴬ ᴮᴵᵀᶜᴴ ⁱˢ ᵁᴺᴬᶜᶜᴱᴾᵀᴬᴮᴸᴱ._ **

**_ʸᵒᵘ ᵃʳᵉ ᶠⁱˡˡᵉᵈ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᴰᴱᵀᴱᴿᴹᴵᴺᴬᵀᴵᴼᴺ._ **

 

_ A hand rose defiantly from the surface of the contemptible water: it tried just as hard as everything else in this worthless place to take him down; and like everything else, it FAILED because Brainz was BETTER. He regained his foothold and retained his focus to break free from the convenient death trap. He took a victorious breath and let his weapon emerge from the torrent first; throwing it onto the partially submerged ground he rightfully sought. He would have to share it with that pitiful flower but no matter. What did matter was that he was alive and that… _

  
  


It felt like there was ice crystalizing inside of his lungs, it felt so  _ heavy.  _ His throat was already worn to the point that  _ any  _ cough felt excruciating let alone how hard he had to now: his body curled up and shuddered with every hack. He couldn’t even remember how he managed to  _ save  _ himself from that act of natural malice. All he could think of was that winter road… how pleasant it would feel compared to this. This wasn’t water that soaked into his clothes and ran down him, it was liquid death. 

 

Well, another close call he could only vaguely remember already. It was the misery that lingered with him that mattered: feeling deathly cold, deathly tired, and wondering how he wasn’t deathly pneumonic yet. He was left to lay there and shiver uncontrollably while his breaths remained hindered by the residual ice water. Speaking of misery; Brainz was basking in the only source of light now (The light on his weapon had been turned off in the struggle). He glanced up from himself to see a less than healthy looking echo flower standing less than straight up. 

**_Speaking of misery:_ ** he recognized where he was immediately,  _ that  _ flower. The very one that doomed the heroine of monsters to Brainz’s reality and the  _ very  _ flower that indirectly lead an impressionable child to their untimely demise. It was  _ all  _ on him, of course it was miserable. He would have to come this way eventually, none of him wanted to think about it until he’d be standing in the very same spot he was when he sent them to hell. But no, he was  _ here _ … and the flower was already talking. He expected to hear Undyne’s voice for the last time in his life, but no. The flower radiated with sounds of despair and weeping, such  _ young  _ sounding cries. It wept and wept, the sounds it made were distorted and warped by its condition but it still relayed everything given to it. So much crying… did it stop even in death? It refused to do so here, even as Brainz groaned from the strain inside him, the flower would not relent. He recessed further into himself and covered his head with his frigid dripping arms. 

“Do not try to hide from it, you can’t hide from your own actions.”

 

The voice…

 

Brainz opened his eyes and saw only two red eyes looking down upon him; in fact her eyes became the only thing red  _ about  _ her. The monster looked rather peculiar in the blue glow of the flower. Toriel was always getting off on being physically and morally taller than him. She didn’t even feel the need to deform her own appearance anymore, her herself was enough to stir up everything horrible and reprehensible in him. Brainz held himself up to the crying and to her, a whispered rasp was all he could manage but it did not lack his contempt.

“Neither could  _ you,  _ you  _ cunt. _ ” 

 

She spoke in that normal tone that could’ve lectured anybody, not a trace of mockery or sickly sweetness.

“You did this to them, Brainz. I didn’t bring this undeserved cruelty to them.”

 

In an instant, Brainz lurched up and regained some of his vocal ferocity. 

“You  _ shut up. _ I tried everything to my fucking ability to spare them of this. I  _ tried _ instead  of hiding in my house like a  _ bitch  _ and rolling the red carpet out for the soldiers.”

 

She scoffed.

“I did all I could to help you. I wanted nothing but good for you. But you assumed everything else about me and decided to exploit me. Put me in the way of your soldiers."

 

He didn’t particularly like how close she decided to stand to his limp form, Brainz fast tracked his efforts to get up again while he went to rebuke her. 

“So you sent them on their way just to  _ spite  _ me?"

 

She hadn’t moved from where she appeared, she was content to stand there in her uppity looking robe with its blasphemous symbol painted on the front. She was just fine standing there with her arms folded together.

“I sent them on their way to  _ stop  _ you. To stop you from hurting anyone else and yourself."

 

He was back to his feet and the frustration helped him forget about the near drowning and hypothermia. Brainz retrieved the dropped weapon from the ground and glared into her eyes.

“So that makes it all **_ok?_** Innocent children were killed, but you’re golden because you did all this just to fuck me over?”

 

She giggled at him, the most genuine and innocent of them all and it struck him the worst.

“Unlike you, I don’t regret anything I’ve done.”

 

There was fear in him, fear for what he couldn’t comprehend. 

“I don’t  _ understand, _ you hate Asgore so much and were more than happy to set me off on him, but you. You’re just the same  _ as  _ him!”

Brainz became astounded by what he proclaimed, the thought of it mortified him. He let out a painful sounding shudder and pointed at her.

“Wait a minute, that’s why you wear that fucking thing like a medal,  _ isn’t it?  _ You were never against Asgore. You’re WITH him,  _ aren’t you?!  _ You son of a  **_(bitch)!”_ **

  
A cough cut him off at the end, but he recovered from it to voice every paranoid thought he had since the moment he left her home into his ultimatum. 

“ _ That’s  _ why you didn’t want to follow me, because you didn’t want to have to help me to keep up the act.  _ That’s  _ why you got me up and going straight for him.  **_That’s why_ ** you took away my guns!  _ YOU  _ were just sending 'soul number seven' down his way! You planned it  _ all  _ didn’t you?! The  _ only  _ thing  **_you_ ** didn’t account for was me making a U-turn because I cared about your treacherous white ass!” 

 

Brainz shot a glance to the new and hostile waterfall behind him, to the room occupied by the pile of dust he caused. He leapt up another tier of excitement.

“And  _ THAT’S  _ what that was! Why that fucking thing was so hard to  _ kill!  _ That fucking heart thing I saw? That was a SOUL wasn’t it!? That’s what this all is! Take the SOULs thing, so you can declare world war fucking  _ three  _ on us! It’s a big,  _ goddamned,  _ **CONSPIRACY!** And  _ everyone’s  _ in on it! ESPECIALLY YOU: you connieving, death worshipping piece of-”

 

She was gone before he could finish, leaving Brainz to growl unsatisfied and frustratedly. She ran away because he debunked her just like everything else he encountered down here. It all made sense now, the truth was a bright blue light washing away all the lies. When he looked at the flower again; it was void of all color and gave onto the world no light or guidance at all. Brainz would double take and doubt himself until he realized that somewhere in this ‘encounter’ his taclight had been turned on. Toriel was  _ obviously  _ real, how else could he be talking to her? It was the flower that deceived him. 

 

It was time to go, Brainz remembered the other passage that lead forward; how he took to it fleeing from Undyne when the fight with her was in its infancy. He had to near himself closer to the raging torrent a lot more than he wished, but he managed to slide through without further incident. Man it was loud… how did he manage to hear anything over the sound of the water anyway? Like the crying noises that he probably didn’t hear and the voice of the long eared deceiver. Not important.

 

This water… He had to trudge through waist high water that still felt like death sucking all the heat from his flesh. He held his M16 up above his head to keep it drier than him, the beretta was also up there. 

 

There were more echo flowers lining the passage,  _ many  _ of them. They all looked sickly and dying, none of them showed their true color or glow. Brainz disturbed the closest ones as he passed, but none of them had anything to say; or perhaps none of them were healthy enough  _ to  _ say anything. The darkness and structural failure showed that this world was literally dying around him. The one flower though, the perkiest looking of them all… Brainz didn’t expect it to talk as he brushed it aside. The voice was so  _ faint  _ that he could barely make it out after the small jump he did when it began to talk. It sounded like another man speaking codes.

“ _ (*****)  _ to all stations! We’re (****) immediate assistance! (*****) three wounded(****)  _ dead!  _ (****) Blind. (***) hazards.  _  Sarge we gotta go, let’s go!” _ _   
_ Everything after that point sounded like static, he couldn’t make any sense of it. 

 

So there it was, he finally figured out the truth of this place. It really  _ was  _ a deathtrap and he was the lure that brought an entire army into its clutches. Things were falling apart fast.

“That can’t be good…”

 

He cringed remembering the hissing sound that water made as the monster tried to get to him. The military was having a hard time here? The  _ military?  _ The same military that Brainz put down a handful of them and left them out for grabs? 

“Oh that can’t be good at all…” 

 

If he was lucky, his biggest problem outside of himself would remain the military and that it wouldn’t become the same  _ as  _ the military’s. 

“Oh  _ god…  _ Asgore. If he finds out she’s dead. If he finds out  _ I  _ did it-”

Brainz spared no more time finishing that thought and got moving again with a little more urgency. He waded through that water with a purpose boosting his strides. He really wasn't in any shape of condition to think laterally or very far outside of the immediate term... but  _this?_ This was something that could be the 'end of the world',  _as in THE end of the world._ How did he  _get_ here again? His suspension of disbelief hadn't eased any since this all started and he was at the point that he could very well believe that he was going to be a prime factor in the end of the damn world. Talk about being self centered.

_SPEAKING OF... Self centered._

There was one of those weird signs on the wall, Brainz hadn’t noticed it until now. Not much of a surprise as he was running for his life the first time he came through here. Despite the red letters basically calling to him, he didn’t really wish to linger in this damn water any longer to read it… it was a good thing Toriel did it for him.

“It says, ‘However… there is a prophecy. The Angel… The one who has seen the surface… They will return and the underground will go empty.”

 

Brainz shook his head and grunted agitatedly.  

“Good, good for fucking you.”

 

-“Do you want to know what  _ I  _ think it means?”

 

“No, not really.”

 

-“I just think you should consider these hopes and dreams a little bit more.  _ Considering  _ after all…  _ that you’re making this come true one way or another.”  _

 

“ _ Real  _ cute, I’m no angel though. I thought we established _I’m_ Hitler down here.” 

 

He met with a small rise in the path that permitted him to finally get out of the pool. Brainz shook himself to help start the long drying process. He could smell something charred which meant Toriel wasn’t satisfied with him enough already. 

“What do you want?”

 

No answer, of course. He sighed and reoriented himself and the gun forward, the light revealed everything ahead. It seemed Brainz actually  _ was  _ going to stop for a bit, stop and take in all the familiarity. That burnt smell? He knew exactly where he was now. It was the smell of dead dreams and charred lumber.    
  


[The bridge.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpE4ytUGmNE)

 

**28:35:55**

**28:35:54**

**28:35:53**

**...**

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	22. C2A22DECLAREDTITLE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> C2A22tootltip# 0\/3R1D3
> 
> We’ll see about this
> 
> I don't feel like I'm in control of my own thoughts anymore, it's like everything I've ever thought has already been thought of by somebody else.
> 
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
> 
> Funny as hell, it's the most horrible thing I didn't think of.
> 
> It's so fuck'n cold in here, I want to go home...
> 
> Where is home, I don't know, it's just not here.
> 
> It's getting really bad now, I can feel it: I need to get out of here.

How long die he lay there? Laying in the middle of the cold while more of it fell from the sky; dancing in the air as each flake descended from the gray mass that blocked out the night stars. The trees stood tall all around him, lining the road in the middle of nowhere. He could see the glare of the taillights everytime he closed his eyes: they were gone and he was going to be too.

_I’m so cold…_  
He could’ve easily frozen to death long before his form would glow from the headlights, fit to remain there and die but that wasn’t an option. That purpose that forced him to move despite the grizzly wounds that let his life out onto the black road, the force that dared to fight in the face of death. That’s why the next metal beast heeled before his presence, he stood up before its yellow eyes. With not a remnant of strength to burn;  _he stood up by the power of sheer_ ** _DETERMINATION._**

 

**_HE HAD TO GET UP, BUT IT WASN’T FOR HIM._ **

**_GET UP, DO NOT DIE. YOU AREN’T_ ** **_ALLOWED_ ** **_TO DIE_ **

 

**_ᵀʰᵉ ᵗʰᵒᵘᵍʰᵗ ᵒᶠ ᴰʸᴵᴺᴳ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵍᵒⁱⁿᵍ ᵒᵘᵗ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᴬ ᴮᴵᵀᶜᴴ ⁱˢ ᵁᴺᴬᶜᶜᴱᴾᵀᴬᴮᴸᴱ._ **

**_ʸᵒᵘ ᵃʳᵉ ᶠⁱˡˡᵉᵈ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᴰᴱᵀᴱᴿᴹᴵᴺᴬᵀᴵᴼᴺ._ **

 

_A hand rose defiantly from the surface of the contemptible water: it tried just as hard as everything else in this worthless place to take him down; and like everything else, it FAILED because Brainz was BETTER. He regained his foothold and retained his focus to break free from the convenient death trap. He took a victorious breath and let his weapon emerge from the torrent first; throwing it onto the partially submerged ground he rightfully sought. He would have to share it with that pitiful flower but no matter. What did matter was that he was alive and that…_

  
  


It felt like there was ice crystalizing inside of his lungs, it felt so  _heavy._ His throat was already worn to the point that  _any_ cough felt excruciating let alone how hard he had to now: his body curled up and shuddered with every hack. He couldn’t even remember how he managed to  _save_ himself from that act of natural malice. All he could think of was that winter road… how pleasant it would feel compared to this. This wasn’t water that soaked into his clothes and ran down him, it was liquid death. 

 

Well, another close call he could only vaguely remember already. It was the misery that lingered with him that mattered: feeling deathly cold, deathly tired, and wondering how he wasn’t deathly pneumonic yet. He was left to lay there and shiver uncontrollably while his breaths remained hindered by the residual ice water. Speaking of misery; Brainz was basking in the only source of light now (The light on his weapon had been turned off in the struggle). He glanced up from himself to see a less than healthy looking echo flower standing less than straight up. 

**_Speaking of misery:_** he recognized where he was immediately,  _that_ flower. The very one that doomed the heroine of monsters to Brainz’s reality and the  _very_ flower that indirectly lead an impressionable child to their untimely demise. It was  _all_ on him, of course it was miserable. He would have to come this way eventually, none of him wanted to think about it until he’d be standing in the very same spot he was when he sent them to hell. But no, he was  _here_ … and the flower was already talking. He expected to hear Undyne’s voice for the last time in his life, but no. The flower radiated with sounds of despair and weeping, such  _young_ sounding cries. It wept and wept, the sounds it made were distorted and warped by its condition but it still relayed everything given to it. So much crying… did it stop even in death? It refused to do so here, even as Brainz groaned from the strain inside him, the flower would not relent. He recessed further into himself and covered his head with his frigid dripping arms. 

“Do not try to hide from it, you can’t hide from your own actions.”

 

The voice…

 

Brainz opened his eyes and saw only two red eyes looking down upon him; in fact her eyes became the only thing red  _about_ her. The monster looked rather peculiar in the blue glow of the flower. Toriel was always getting off on being physically and morally taller than him. She didn’t even feel the need to deform her own appearance anymore, her herself was enough to stir up everything horrible and reprehensible in him. Brainz held himself up to the crying and to her, a whispered rasp was all he could manage but it did not lack his contempt.

“Neither could  _you,_ you  _cunt._ ” 

 

She spoke in that normal tone that could’ve lectured anybody, not a trace of mockery or sickly sweetness.

“You did this to them, Brainz. I didn’t bring this undeserved cruelty to them.”

 

In an instant, Brainz lurched up and regained some of his vocal ferocity. 

“You  _shut up._ I tried everything to my fucking ability to spare them of this. I  _tried_ instead  of hiding in my house like a  _bitch_ and rolling the red carpet out for the soldiers.”

 

She scoffed.

“I did all I could to help you. I wanted nothing but good for you. But you assumed everything else about me and decided to exploit me. Put me in the way of your soldiers."

 

He didn’t particularly like how close she decided to stand to his limp form, Brainz fast tracked his efforts to get up again while he went to rebuke her. 

“So you sent them on their way just to  _spite_ me?"

 

She hadn’t moved from where she appeared, she was content to stand there in her uppity looking robe with its blasphemous symbol painted on the front. She was just fine standing there with her arms folded together.

“I sent them on their way to  _stop_ you. To stop you from hurting anyone else and yourself."

 

He was back to his feet and the frustration helped him forget about the near drowning and hypothermia. Brainz retrieved the dropped weapon from the ground and glared into her eyes.

“So that makes it all  ** _ok?_** Innocent children were killed, but you’re golden because you did all this just to fuck me over?”

 

She giggled at him, the most genuine and innocent of them all and it struck him the worst.

“Unlike you, I don’t regret anything I’ve done.”

 

There was fear in him, fear for what he couldn’t comprehend. 

“I don’t  _understand,_ you hate Asgore so much and were more than happy to set me off on him, but you. You’re just the same  _as_ him!”

Brainz became astounded by what he proclaimed, the thought of it mortified him. He let out a painful sounding shudder and pointed at her.

“Wait a minute, that’s why you wear that fucking thing like a medal,  _isn’t it?_ You were never against Asgore. You’re WITH him,  _aren’t you?!_ You son of a  ** _(bitch)!”_**

  
A cough cut him off at the end, but he recovered from it to voice every paranoid thought he had since the moment he left her home into his ultimatum. 

“  _That’s_ why you didn’t want to follow me, because you didn’t want to have to help me to keep up the act.  _That’s_ why you got me up and going straight for him.  ** _That’s why_** you took away my guns!  _YOU_ were just sending 'soul number seven' down his way! You planned it  _all_ didn’t you?! The  _only_ thing  ** _you_** didn’t account for was me making a U-turn because I cared about your treacherous white ass!” 

 

Brainz shot a glance to the new and hostile waterfall behind him, to the room occupied by the pile of dust he caused. He leapt up another tier of excitement.

“And  _THAT’S_ what that was! Why that fucking thing was so hard to  _kill!_ That fucking heart thing I saw? That was a SOUL wasn’t it!? That’s what this all is! Take the SOULs thing, so you can declare world war fucking  _three_ on us! It’s a big,  _goddamned,_ **CONSPIRACY!** And  _everyone’s_ in on it! ESPECIALLY YOU: you connieving, death worshipping piece of-”

 

She was gone before he could finish, leaving Brainz to growl unsatisfied and frustratedly. She ran away because he debunked her just like everything else he encountered down here. It all made sense now, the truth was a bright blue light washing away all the lies. When he looked at the flower again; it was void of all color and gave onto the world no light or guidance at all. Brainz would double take and doubt himself until he realized that somewhere in this ‘encounter’ his taclight had been turned on. Toriel was  _obviously_ real, how else could he be talking to her? It was the flower that deceived him. 

 

It was time to go, Brainz remembered the other passage that lead forward; how he took to it fleeing from Undyne when the fight with her was in its infancy. He had to near himself closer to the raging torrent a lot more than he wished, but he managed to slide through without further incident. Man it was loud… how did he manage to hear anything over the sound of the water anyway? Like the crying noises that he probably didn’t hear and the voice of the long eared deceiver. Not important.

 

This water… He had to trudge through waist high water that still felt like death sucking all the heat from his flesh. He held his M16 up above his head to keep it drier than him, the beretta was also up there. 

 

There were more echo flowers lining the passage,  _many_ of them. They all looked sickly and dying, none of them showed their true color or glow. Brainz disturbed the closest ones as he passed, but none of them had anything to say; or perhaps none of them were healthy enough  _to_ say anything. The darkness and structural failure showed that this world was literally dying around him. The one flower though, the perkiest looking of them all… Brainz didn’t expect it to talk as he brushed it aside. The voice was so  _faint_ that he could barely make it out after the small jump he did when it began to talk. It sounded like another man speaking codes.

“  _(*****)_ to all stations! We’re (****) immediate assistance! (*****) three wounded(****)  _dead!_ (****) Blind. (***) hazards.  _Sarge we gotta go, let’s go!”_ _  
_Everything after that point sounded like static, he couldn’t make any sense of it.

 

So there it was, he finally figured out the truth of this place. It really  _was_ a deathtrap and he was the lure that brought an entire army into its clutches. Things were falling apart fast.

“That can’t be good…”

 

He cringed remembering the hissing sound that water made as the monster tried to get to him. The military was having a hard time here? The  _military?_ The same military that Brainz put down a handful of them and left them out for grabs? 

“Oh that can’t be good at all…” 

 

If he was lucky, his biggest problem outside of himself would remain the military and that it wouldn’t become the same  _as_ the military’s. 

“Oh  _god…_ Asgore. If he finds out she’s dead. If he finds out  _I_ did it-”

Brainz spared no more time finishing that thought and got moving again with a little more urgency. He waded through that water with a purpose boosting his strides. He really wasn't in any shape of condition to think laterally or very far outside of the immediate term... but  _this?_ This was something that could be the 'end of the world',  _as in THE end of the world._  How did he  _get_ here again? His suspension of disbelief hadn't eased any since this all started and he was at the point that he could very well believe that he was going to be a prime factor in the end of the damn world. Talk about being self centered.

_SPEAKING OF... Self centered._

There was one of those weird signs on the wall, Brainz hadn’t noticed it until now. Not much of a surprise as he was running for his life the first time he came through here. Despite the red letters basically calling to him, he didn’t really wish to linger in this damn water any longer to read it… it was a good thing Toriel did it for him.

“It says, ‘However… there is a prophecy. The Angel… The one who has seen the surface… They will return and the underground will go empty.”

 

Brainz shook his head and grunted agitatedly.  

“Good, good for fucking you.”

 

-“Do you want to know what  _I_ think it means?”

 

“No, not really.”

 

-“I just think you should consider these hopes and dreams a little bit more.  _Considering_ after all…  _that you’re making this come true one way or another.”_

 

“  _Real_ cute, I’m no angel though. I thought we established _I’m_  Hitler down here.” 

 

He met with a small rise in the path that permitted him to finally get out of the pool. Brainz shook himself to help start the long drying process. He could smell something charred which meant Toriel wasn’t satisfied with him enough already. 

“What do you want?”

 

No answer, of course. He sighed and reoriented himself and the gun forward, the light revealed everything ahead. It seemed Brainz actually  _was_ going to stop for a bit, stop and take in all the familiarity. That burnt smell? He knew exactly where he was now. It was the smell of dead dreams and charred lumber.   
  


[The bridge.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpE4ytUGmNE)

 

**28:35:55**

**28:35:54**

**28:35:53**

**...**


	23. Aborgration of ill and hazardous effects.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's so cold... 
> 
> Don't worry, things will soon heat up in the kitchen.  
> Hell's Kitchen.
> 
> You're not welcome there, or *anywhere* for that matter.   
> Can't you hear the sirens calling for you?
> 
> If you pass through fire or steam, you will see a heat damage icon lighting up on your display.  
> Directional indicators at the center of your display signify where damage is coming from.   
> -UNKNOWN EXCERPT

Brainz expected to see this place again; it wasn’t like the world to not make him relive traumatic occurrences. All that fury, all that hatred: it consumed two more lives here and left their remains here to fester for eternity and for what? What did  _ any  _ of this accomplish? Nobody won anything, and everyone left being so much worse for the wear. 

 

He gazed upon the destroyed bridge, its very being was blackened and torn apart by the reprehensible deeds that befell upon it. The stench of death loomed in the air, he could almost smell the blood in the midst of the oder. The late child was really the punctuation of the point of no return, and the gap between wooden husks more or less brought it into literal terms. Of course though… The military proved once again that boundaries didn’t truly exist and sought to cover it all up. The remains of the bridge had been unduly mended with copious amounts of nylon cable and reaffirmed to the ground by numerous steel posts. This place should have left alone until everything was gone, the shame really didn’t need to be revitalized. However, if this desecration hadn’t been carried out, Brainz wouldn’t be able to continue and his journey would’ve ended. Deciding if that would’ve been a nice thing was up to his discretion. 

 

It creaked and groaned as he passed it but he would only hear echoes of the cries of pain and duress; well…  _ That  _ and the sound of water rushing from under it, mostly the water as it was pretty  _ loud.  _ This place had to have had one hell of a draining system.  The damn  _ red  _ or  _ blood  _ or  _ whatever it was  _  that he spilt still remained as discernible as it did when it was still  _ warm,  _ it had been strewn and spread about in the form of dozens of bootprints. The unburned splinters of wood and bits of jagged metal from the sadistic bat were all over the place just begging someone to step on them, they existed  _ only  _ to cause harm just like the person who wielded them once upon a time. That all exploded on Undyne's behalf.

_Undyne had wept violently as she desperately clawed at Brainz’s face, there was no honor or principal to this; it was just violence. It was all over for her and the killer was laughing, his maniacal laughter was a sick innuendo of intentions that lay inside of him. The child begged for help, their lips were seared by the flames that took onto the grievously injured monster that they pulled from the fire. The damage was done and there was nothing they could do to make it better. Brainz took all of their choices away._

_ Mettaton wouldn’t report on what he saw, it was just too unsightly for the audience… Too traumatizing. _

 

“It didn’t have to become this…”

A voice chimed in from nowhere.

 

Brainz nodded plainly.

“I know…”   
He smacked his lips and took a burdened breath.

“I killed them (Monster Kid). I killed both of them before they even realized it. In fact, _y’know:_ I did that to _everyone_ I met down here, didn’t I?”

 

Toriel nodded casually.

“Mhm.”

 

Brainz nodded again too and raised her a shrug.

“Thought so. I-eeey. Thought. So…. Yehp.”

 

The sirens weren’t going away anytime soon; it was time for Brainz to leave. As his flashlight departed with him, the cursed area was left in its rightful darkness to be unseen and forgotten. There was no point in dwelling on this terrible place where terrible things happened; after all: it was going to get  _ so  _ much worse anyway and blow what happened here out of the water. 

“Y’know just-  _ what’m I SAYING?  _ The world’s about to end for christ’s sake and I'm bellyaching over these idiots?"

 

He whipped his head back to nobody and threw his arms out.

“Don’t think I forgot about that, I  _ didn’t.  _ But just  _ stop  _ with your bullshit for once, this is  _ serious.  _ Do you not understand the ramifications of this?”

 

He lashed out and spun around, his drenched hair fell into his face and he frantically parted it. 

“Ohh this is bad.  _ Baaad  _ bad bad.  **_Baaaaaad…”_ **

 

Composure? No, not really. Brainz wasn’t clear to continue until he repeated that word a couple dozen more times with differing tone and emphasises. He didn’t have to sense her presence to know she was listening.

“You guys  _ really  _ suck, right?” 

 

He wasn’t answered, but wasn’t really waiting for one in the first place.

“I mean you: you’re a piece of fucking dogshit, but you’re a lousy monster. And. You guys-”

 

He swallowed something hard in his throat and grimaced at the soreness.

“-you guys are kind of pathetic. I mean, you couldn’t take me out even if I wasn’t evidently immortal.  _ I’m just that good,  _ but… you get  _ lucky  _ and some poor bastard gets offed by your bullshit reality and then.”

 

He looked at his still dripping wet M16 and exasperatedly shook it her way. 

“You _ SAW!  _ That motherfucker ate the bullets like  _ candy!  _ And he was flyin at me like that and the fuckin boiling  _ water?  _ I mean what the fuck was all that? I only got that thing with my last  _ bullet!  _ And even then it probably took a hundred more from the damn soldiers!”

 

Try to calm down, take a deep breath and let it out. It hurt him to do that and he coughed, a belated symptom of the repeated near drowning. When he did remember how to lower his voice, it came out as a grim sounding mutter; more of a thought coming out of his mouth.

“Burgerpants said they only need  _ one  _ more soul, then Asgore’s gonna break the barrier and let them all out and declare-”   


_ Reluctantly and like a broken record, I rolled my eyes and even parodized how I said it.  _

_ “ _ -World War three. And we had such trouble with something that had  _ one  _ soul under its belt…”   
  


His train of thought became bleaker and jumped ahead a couple of steps. 

“And there’s  _ god  _ knows how many troops down here with maybe  _ more  _ coming in every hour.  _ That’s a lot of fucking souls…”  _

 

Then something a little more relevant to him came to mind: it widened his eyes and made his heart skip a beat.

“I killed like.  _ Six  _ people… Hh shit. Does it not count if  _ I  _ did it? Or is there like a ‘five second rule’ where  _ any  _ asshole can come by and just  _ take em?  _ Ohhh fuck.”   
  


That was about the closest thing to regret he would manifest for the people he put down. It wasn’t even for their sakes so much as the consequences finding their way back to him in the form of immortal monsters ripping his face off. 

 

…

 

“You know… I’ve done some real shitty things in my piece of crap worthless life; but I  _ never  _ expected  **_NOR_ ** ever wanted the biggest thing I’ve ever done to be ‘Start World War Three and destroy  _ humanity’  _ and I didn’t even  _ do  _ anything directly! I don’t even wanna  _ be  _ here for fucks sake! In fact;  _ NONE  _ of this woulda happened if these gun for brains didn’t follow me  _ down  _ here!”

 

That wasn’t exactly right and he actually felt the need to rephrase it. 

“If it was still all just about  _ me _ and I died somehow, I wouldn’t have to worry about the world ending  _ would I?” _

He wouldn't have had to worry about  _a lot_ of things anymore... except Flowey. The  fact was that it  _wasn't_ solely about him meant  he  _ did  _ have to worry about the world and that’s exactly what he was holding off on doing by sitting here discussing it with himself and Toriel. Brainz shook himself fiercely (After a long ‘I don’t want to do this kind of sigh) to do away with the water dripping from him and got back to proceeding; this time putting the purpose into his pace. 

“Let’s go  _ ‘ _ save the world’ I  _ guess…”  _

 

He trotted into the menacing cave putting his gun and light forward. He thought about that attempt at humor more in depth as he hustled. Audible pants would break up his out loud thoughts. 

“ _ Y’know.  _ We could already be  _ fucked.  _ Who’s to say Asgore already. Didn’t take the souls he had. Or did away with the stooges watching him? Why didn’t they kill him. In the first place anyway? Fuckin military makes no sense. But uhm. Who’s to say he didn’t…  _ y’know,  _ already  _ take  _ the souls? No, I guess not. Part the reason those guys. Weren’t paste on the wall already. Why would he  _ do  _ that though? That’s just dangerous for his. Stupid  _ plan.  _ I don’t even  _ fuck’n  _ know anymore. I’m gonna find that out. For  _ myself  _ yeah? Like always.”

 

Something made him huff amusedly and even crack the smallest of smiles. 

“ _ Aghgheeh.  _ Y’know. If I  _ kill’em  _ and  _ stop this  _ somehow? Maybe the government will give me a  _ pardon! Aheh-heh-hehhhhhyeah.  _ I’m kind of  _ serious  _ though. Sure I killed like a hundred. Two hundred at most people. But saving the entire  _ world?  _ That’s like seven  _ billion.  _ That’s gotta be worth somethin. Boy wouldn’t that be funny?”   
  


It wasn’t much for lightening the mood, but it was an attempt nevertheless. The monotonous linearity of this rather long path actually didn’t cause him to think to fill in the lack of stimulation; rather all he could think of was how his clothes stuck to him because they were still soaked with freezing water. Jogging at the heightened pace didn’t seem to be enough to warm him, he shivered modestly. After a couple of minutes of still unchanging nothingness and darkness, Brainz felt the air warming up and actually providing comfort. It was like entering a heated building out of the snow. He was a little taken back by it.

“Huhhh, this isn’t. So bad, I could get used to this.”

 

He didn’t get accustomed though, it just kept feeling  _ warmer.  _ More like a hot day in june with the sun beating down on you. It was humid too; Like,  _ really  _ humid to the point being soaking wet felt everything  _ but  _ refreshing. He remembered where he was and smacked his lips miserably. 

“ _ Eugghh…  _ right.”

 

He returned to a walking pace; he could see the faint light coming from ahead anyway. The temperature kept rising and the icy cold grip on him was already slipping, he would’ve liked for it to persist now. 

“Hey, wait a minute: where’s the giant sign that almost blinded me? Should be around here, right?”   
  


It was still there, but it had no means of denoting its presence to him. That wasn’t going to be a concern ten meters later when he could feel every sweat pore on his body opening all the way. 

“ _ Uggh, _ fuck. This  _ sucks.  _ I already feel sick again.”

 

Brainz recalled almost immediately with the return of the nauseating heat that the area ahead was presumably destabilizing. He wasn’t ankle high in magma, so that meant he was wrong about just  _ how  _ bad it was getting out there; which was a  _ good  _ thing. However, something rather unprecedented became prevalent. Brainz found that the way to go was sitting behind a wall of the densest steam he’d ever seen. Brainz  _ was  _ genuinely surprised at this, but too accustomed to the endless plagues that beset upon him minute after minute. 

“What the fuck-  _ Urrrrgh… “ _

Yeah, so this is what was happening now. The transition into the volcano looking world was hidden behind an oddly formed cloud of steam. It didn't seem to spread or disperse down the way he was coming from, as if it was being contained to Hotland itself. As if the place needed to be anymore uncomfortable, it found a way to go beyond 100% humidity to make all of the heat stick to him. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go, so he made himself proceed further and the regret came almost  _immediately._ The steam was ‘fucking _hot.’_ Brainz jumped back with a startled squeal and subsequent pained and anxious noises. _Now_ he was showing surprise.

“Jesus fucking  _ christ _ that’s hot! What the fuck  _ happened?  _ What  _ is  _ this shit?! I mean for  **_fucks sake!”_ **

 

A voice from behind.

“Have you fallen to your own sorrow again? Is it going to take even more time away from you to make it right?” 

 

“Shut the fuck up, I don’t  _ NEED  _ your input right now!”

 

She crossed her arms and tried to sound  _ sympathetic.  _

“Don’t you ever tire of this, child? Of inciting the profanities and seizing up like this for  _ every  _ obstacle that comes your way? This detrimental behavior is becoming a habit of yours." 

 

“I’m  _ NOT  _ a fucking ‘ _ child!’  _ And don’t  _ you  _ judge me! Don’t you  _ do  _ it!”

He pointed at her with such disdain and a twitch in his eye. 

“So  _ what _ if I repeat myself? At least I’m  _ CONSISTENT,  _ unlike YOU, you grass chewing turncoat! You and your  _ piece of shit _ world.” 

 

She gave off like she had been  _ bothered  _ by this. She tried to progress her case.

“I’m just mentioning… you don’t have to put yourself  _ through  _ all of this. You’ve already done so much for Flowey. He’d understand if you took a break."

 

“You  _ shut up  _ about Flowey!- B-b- _ what  _ is it that you even know about him that I  _ don’t, huh?!” _

She put her claw to her lips.

“Shhhh shhh. It’s alright, Brainz. There’s nothing more to be afraid of. Just point that gun of yours to your head and pull the trigger. Everything will be so much better then, you’ll  _ see! _ ”

She sounded so cheerful and genuine with her advice that Brainz almost wanted to consider it. _No,_ not again.  A shiver ran up his spine, but he withheld himself. 

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? That’s what you wanted along, isn’t it? For me to blow my brains out and let you all out.”

 

She spoke again in that hypnotic ‘assuring’ voice. To quell his anxieties. 

“I am trying to help you. I am also trying to get you to kill yourself. These goals are not as mutually exclusive as you seem to think.”

 

Would he be able to actually  _ do  _ it now? With something else driving him to end his life except his own desire, what would happen if he did put the barrel of this gun into his mouth? Could this very well be his only chance at freeing himself from this world? 

“ _ No…” _

 

He shook his head and reaffirmed his bitter tone.

“Not your way…  _ I.  _ Got shit to do.” 

 

He could’ve considered if he’d any other options besides offing himself or running into the wall of searing pain, but he didn’t want  _ her  _ to see the doubt inside of him. In fact, for all she could be concerned; Brainz had an idea. He looked to his feet and the puddle forming under him as lukewarm water dripped from his clothing and him. Then he turned away from the steam and ran back the way he came without another word. 

“There is no other way, Brainz… please don’t waste your time.”

He kept going.

“You can’t take it back either… just stop.”   
  


Nope, he didn’t listen to her. Instead, Brainz backtracked the entire length of the soulless passageway and even out the mouth of the spiky looking cave entrance. The water was still actively flowing from the ceiling in the middle of this passage, the near death caused him to shiver again… But that was the point.

Brainz brought himself as close as he could to the raging waterfall and proceeded to further drench himself with the ice cold water. He made sure every part of him he could still feel, could  _ barely  _ be felt from the cold numbness catching on. It felt just as physically miserable as the first time and if he was lucky: it would combat the  _ other  _ kind of misery he was going to have to endure. This wasn’t anywhere near a well thought out plan, but it was the difference between dying within  _ seconds  _ and  _ agony filled minutes.  _ The latter was the harder way of course but gave him the best chance of actually succeeding. With the intense shivers returning to him: Brainz hurried back to the entrance to Hotland. He saw her before the wall of steam, waiting for him: Brainz didn’t even address her so much as barrel into the steam after taking his last breath for air and covering his face. 

* * *

 

Can’t see. 

_ PAIN;  _ burning every part of him.

_ HISSING.  _

 

He just ran, could only see the ground below his feet-

**_WATCH OUT. THE BRIDGE._ **

 

It was still there but he had to watch his damn  _ steps  _ not to fall off.

 

It felt like he’d waltzed into a fucking  _ oven.  _

_ It hurt so much, don’t cry in pain; don’t open your mouth.  _

 

Made it to land, keep running.

Where am I going? 

Don’t know, just  _ run.  _

 

Can’t take it.

“ **AH-AH-AH IT BURNS-”**

 

He used the last of his breath in that yell, he couldn’t stop himself from inhaling. Instantly, the beyond saturated air scorched his mouth; he could feel the fire shooting down his windpipe. It wasn’t even  _ air;  _ it was like inhaling boiling water. All he could do with the miniscule amounts of oxygen he pulled from the hellish environment was yell in pain. He began to feel dizzy and his footing became unstable. He ended up tripping… in the doorway to the lab. 

 

The air was immediately, _ dramatically  _ better inside of the room. By no means was it pleasant, the room felt like it was on  _ fire  _ but not in the literal sense like what he just traversed. Brainz struggled on the most painful coughs in his life while desperately sliding on the floor to get further into the building. The room was almost completely shrouded in darkness, only the red glares from both entrances and the insufficient glow given off from the failing bulbs above his head provided any light. Even so, he could see the steam coming off his clothes. He let himself whimper and groan before getting himself off of the hard floor. He couldn’t breathe very well and the worst of the lingering pain was in his lungs and throat. Brainz rolled up one of his sleeves just to check and being able to only see shades of red made it really easy to tell that his skin was turning red from the burns. He was going to be covered head to toe in blisters if he lived long enough to let them come. 

 

The lab was absolutely trashed, the only thing it had going for it was that it wasn’t full of skin peeling steam. Everything he could perceive and distinguish from memory had been completely destroyed; some emitting fountains of bright sparks while miniscule flames crackled beneath the cracks and fissures. The ‘how’s behind this would be given to him when he saw a red smear on the floor, he would follow it until it became a full on  _ pool  _ of blood. The source of it was laying against the wall, both were laden with bullet holes.    
  


 The body demanded its own kind of ‘how’s but those were also answered by the shotgun sitting across the room from the soldier. A myriad of red shells lay between them. Of course he went for the weapon before he checked the body. Even in his pained state, Brainz prioritized firearms. The gun was lying just in front of the elevator door. Brainz’s gloves would help him handle the metallic parts in the extreme heat. He picked it up and inspected it: it was a Mossberg 590 pump-action 12 Gauge with a barrel mounted tac light and a bungee sling. The gun was in rough shape though: it was riddled with claw marks and scratches, not to mention the  _ dust.  _ There was dust present in all the weapon’s grooves and intricate parts but not a speck of blood. There was more dust to be found, a small patch of it was on the floor and vanished underneath the door the gun was found by. 

“Alphys?”

That was all he could wheeze out before coughing from the irritated windpipe. The door wouldn’t budge even though it looked like someone had gone to great lengths to force it open. Unfortunately, that was all the time he could spend analyzing the scene: something began to speak from behind him.

“ _ - _ Garper come in. Garper. Do you copy?” 

 

A voice crackled from the body, it was just the radio though. Props to engineering for the radio still being functional in all this. Brainz approached the deceased soldier, clutching the shotgun in his hand. The small box on the man’s vest spoke again.

“ _ Come in,  _ Garper.  _ Do you copy?  _ Forget about Brainz, we’re aborting the mission. If you have any last search locations:  _hurry up!_ Otherwise,  _ get  _ the hell out of there! I repeat. We are pulling out and heading to the extraction point, join up with Romeo Six on Level 3 and get moving!”

 

_ Holy shit. _

 

The  _ military  _ was running away. He couldn’t believe a single word of what he just heard. They came in after him; his consequences destroying everything in their path to reach him. The most devastating they had ever been… and they were pulling out. This really  _ was _ the end of the world, at least the thing that really convinced him that this was all real. This really wasn’t something that happened before, if they were running away; what did that say for Brainz’s chances? 

“ _ Wait a sec-” _

More agonized coughs almost debilitated him but what he  _ meant  _ to remark on was the fact that this particular soldier and perhaps more were instructed to  **_forget about Brainz._ ** Did that mean they were going to leave him alone? Probably not, but it was still nice to hear. What wasn’t so nice was the heat, it was in his best interest to get out of here.

 

He had no intention of going back and trying the elevator off the intersection, that wasn’t going to happen. Brainz looked to the other entrance parallel to the way he came in, he could see ribbons of steam rising from the cliffs of the path but it was  _ significantly  _ decreased compared to the strut across hell he had to do. There  _ had  _ to be another way up to the resort through here. Brainz turned to the destroyed monitor and recalled the large map he studied so briefly, there were other elevators and they were all connected somehow. With the malfunctioning power grid, this was nothing short of a gamble but it was all he had. 

 

Brainz had a moment to sigh from the heat and gather his strength for this. He had  _ more  _ than a moment to loot the dead soldier and adjust the shotgun sling to go over  _ his  _ shoulder. More than a moment to steal two more beretta magazines and a heaping amount of shotguns shells which he shoved into his pockets. He also discovered a water canteen in the dropped rucksack: to which he stole, then appraised, drank a quarter of it, and poured another quarter of it on his face. It was like opening a thermos of painfully hot tea… But appreciated enough that he took the canteen with him.  So what if he was already burdened and overheating? No point in letting perfectly good equipment go to waste. 

 

With all this ammunition on him now, Brainz sorely hoped none of it would go off from the heat. He emptied out the shotgun and loaded it back up with nine shells, the first one went into the chamber. The sling then went over and under his shoulders, the shotgun rested atop his bag. Brainz took one last look at the room behind him. He probably could’ve said something about it, about all this? He didn’t feel like talking though, lest he try his burnt throat anymore. He took some preparing breaths and walked out the other door.

 

* * *

  
  
  


Already he felt like collapsing on the ground and bursting into flame, while this part of the area wasn’t  _ as  _ bad: It was like being inside of a hot car in the dead of summer…. While it was parked on the surface of the sun. There was still steam rising from both ends of the narrow and ‘without guardrail’ path, not to mention he could feel how hot the ground was through his boots. Brainz had no intention of looking over the edge and made himself proceed without considering doing so once or a hundred times.

 

There was all kinds of technological junk and flashy looking bullshit that he could see. Like a pair of moving walkways going in either direction alongside some fancy looking exhaust pipes and other odd looking gizmos. Nothing worked of course and the exhaust pipes were emitting streams of flame topped with hazardous looking clouds of black smoke. Getting through here was especially slow and unpleasant because the damn air was too hot to even want to breathe. Coughing with every breath was becoming a constant affliction.

 

Another rather  _ nasty  _ tremor slowed him down further as he has to proceed through another inactive set of moving conveyors (Only difference being these ones were more extravagant and gratuitous).  The rumbling from the latest earthquake would never really cease, it would lessen but continue to shake the ground ever so slightly. The noise it made would suggest that it was taking place elsewhere now. A good addition to the sound of bubbling stone and groaning metal from above, paired with the percussion of unseen explosions echoing from above. 

 

_ Fuuuuck…  _

 

So, remember the “Demented Hopscotch Room” up on level three? It seemed the design was more popular than Brainz would recall because it found itself down here. The gaps were even wider and the pathing wasn’t even symmetrical, it looked like there were two ways he could go. To make matters worse, there wasn’t even a long fall to look forward too if he messed up. The magma was so close to the ground that it was beginning to seep into the boundaries of the path. Well, ‘magma’. It wasn’t as bright or as  _ red  _ as he last remembered it, more like mostly huge chunks of steaming rocks with trickles of lava between them as they coursed through the area. If he had proceeded through here  _ before  _ this apparent ‘cooling’... 

 

“ _ HmPh!!”  _

 

He jumped across the first gap and landed with a fair stumble forward. It took him longer to gear up for the task because he  was heavier and hungrier than before and the brutal heat on top was exacerbating the ill feeling in him, he really wasn’t feeling good. Brainz had to catch his breath after one jump, he took the path to his left because it only amounted to one jump and that was all he felt like he was capable at the moment. 

 

A terrible sound suddenly came to be, it sounded like a strong  _ hissing  _ noise was coming from one of the dormant steam vents below. 

* **_POW!!*_ **

It was good thing Brainz  _ didn’t  _ take the other way, one of the vents in the ground had just been torn free from itself and launched into the air in a big burst of fire. The grate fell into the molten rock below and the now open pit continued to shoot flames upwards of nine feet into the air. Other fixtures in the ground began to emit fire as well, the ground vibrated too. When Brainz lowered his arms from shielding himself reflexively: he decided it was in his best interest to leave.

 

Brainz wobbled into a corridor with a floor made of pipes. There were more of those projector looking devices placed intermittently along the way, presumably to cause some kind of delay and/or harm. They weren’t working though, made obvious by the fountain of sparks and flickering bulbs on them. If he wasn’t smart enough to figure out the map of this place and take that shortcut, what would he have had to deal with coming through here in the first place? That thought wouldn’t get to be completed because of a terribly loud and proximal sounding explosion from above. This one was close enough that Brainz could feel it in his eardrums. Instincts told him to look up, and the  _ ginormous  _ object engulfed in flames falling from aloft told him to sprint out of the way. 

 

It looked like a giant boiler or something but  _ whatever it was,  _ it crashed onto the narrow pathway. It was heavy enough that the surface bowed down and splashed the magma just a foot below, spraying everything around with liquid hot. Brainz barely stumbled far enough away to escape the area of effect. When it finally settled, it added to the list of catastrophic events witnessed by Brainz. He barely managed to avoid/endure them and now there was no turning back as the path had been destroyed… and was slowly crumbling and dissociating, he had to keep going before the death of the stability reached him. There was more flaming debris coming from above too. The distant sounds too, they could best be compared to thunder up in the sky except the acoustics of being underground made every sound bigger and scarier.  **That’s exactly what the catch of the next room was.**

 

If Brainz spared the will or energy to speak, he… probably wouldn’t have anything to say that hadn’t been done to death already. Whatever this room was supposed to be or contain, was overshadowed by a mountain of twisted metal and felled rock. It looked like half of the architecture under the mountain had been thrown up in here: metal paths, pipes, wires, pillars, structural beams, rocks, just all kinds of mangled debris. 

 

It was the biggest and most horrendous looking mess he’d ever seen. 

 

Well… Now what? 

 

**28:10:28**

**28:10:27**

**28:10:26**

**...**


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To hell with being civil!  
> Everything's going to shit around me and I'm just supposed to sit there let it happen?  
> Fuck that-
> 
> Life wants to cheat me?  
> I'm cheating back
> 
> ...
> 
> (###) ###-####
> 
> Nine, this is nine.   
> Take cover when the siren sounds! 
> 
> Ten, this is ten.  
> It's only a test, everything is perfectly fine.
> 
> It will be fine, for me.

The third tremor interrupted the affixation: all the falling debris concerned him too much to ignore. This wasn’t the place to linger; if not the death from above or the splash created from it, it was the impending heatstroke. There was no time to waste on personal thoughts, Brainz’s mental capacity was at the point he could only think about surviving. For the time being, he was utterly silent. 

Brainz inspected the collapse, it was so dense that he couldn’t see behind it or  _ if  _ there even was a ‘behind it’ anymore. Going around wasn’t possible either because of the magma surrounding everything. Going back was also joining the ranks of unsound decisions. It wasn’t even the murderous steam he’d have to pass through again so much as the quite loud and proximal explosions coming from the room before as steam grates burst from their housings. It wasn’t looking too good at all…

 

What?  _ No.  _ It’s really not that bad yet, not bad enough to actually listen to that goat-fuck, but what was he supposed to  _ do _ ? He didn’t even have the luxury of stressing the situation,  _ especially  _ when more garbage was trying to crush him! What even  _ was  _ that that just tumbled down the mass of rubble and almost hit him? Where was this stuff even  _ coming  _ from? Brainz looked up the facade of destroyed metal and rock. With the distance he was allowed to see from the smoky fog, he wouldn’t find what he was looking for. All he could see was the bottom side of another walkway suspended far up above; at least what was  _ left  _ of it: the collapse took part of it down and the remains were sagging down.

 Fat help  _ that  _ was, it wasn’t like he could get up there or anything… Or could he? The wall of rubble wasn’t really so much of a  _ wall _ as much as it was a jagged slope. He couldn’t go  _ through  _ it or avoid it entirely, but what about  _ over  _ it? 

He wasn’t  _ actually  _ contemplating scaling it, that would be  _ insane!  _ It didn’t matter that the huge pile built up to the path above or the fact that there were plenty of prominent shapes and easily graspable parts sticking out of this mess. What  _ did  _ matter was-

Brainz already made up his mind, he was going to climb up the side of the rubble. It was dangerous and could get him killed just like everything else down here, but it had its own specific and segregated hazards to consider. The integrity of this thing…  _ what integrity?  _ It could fall apart or shift at any second while he was clambering up the side of it. His own ability to climb was hampered by the excessive heat and the exhaustion sourced from a myriad of factors, the most distinguished one being that he had to keep his M16 in his grip because he couldn’t sling it over his back like the shotgun… Maybe he should’ve checked the last soldier for another bungee cord… Really though; Brainz noticed some of the longer metal segments of this makeshift rockwall beginning to glow red, he followed the glow all the way to the pool of magma that touched them. Some of the metal was absorbing an alarming amount of heat from the molten rock. Brainz  _ was  _ wearing gloves and ‘sort-of’ insulating boots, but even he knew they wouldn’t do him much good against nine-hundred degree hot steel. Still… it wasn’t like he had any  _ other  _ choice. Brainz tucked the rifle under his arm and tested the soundness of a warm piece of trussing and just like that, he was on his way up.

 

It took him a hell of a while to make the smallest bit of progress. This wasn’t the greatest course of action in the first place and it would show with every hindrance that threatened to kill him: his weakened grip from having to hold the gun as he did and the moment he almost dropped it and spent some of his balance to catch it, aforementioned metallic parts being too hot to touch, getting his clothing caught on jagged edges, it went on… Not to mention the parts that fell off this thing as he disturbed them, he felt that one more tremor would topple the whole thing with him on it. Yet, it didn’t and he eventually, actually pulled himself up onto the left portion of the separated platform. Brainz crawled up the depressed end of the walkway to the portion of it that wasn’t slanted down, he  then rolled onto his back to lay there for a couple of minutes: just until everything stopped hurting so much. 

“Eeuugghh…” 

His airway still hurt too much to make more than an exhausted groan. He metered his breaths for air to keep from harming his lungs any further, it did  _ not  _ feel any better up here: if anything, it almost felt  _ worse  _ being higher up from the magma. This inane catwalk made of stone, where was he? It was actually quite dark up here too, that molten rock may have had an ancillary function now that the power was out. Brainz relied on his flashlight once more. 

 

“This must be floor two.”   
He thought as he stood up and grimaced at the persisting soreness. Brainz only had the fact that he couldn’t remember this place from before, example being floor three was made entirely out of metal and the only metal he saw was the burnt and scattered debris covering this passage. It was definitely floor two and from the looks of it, floor three was coming down on top of it so he really didn’t have any reason to linger. There was one more glance to the divide in the path from the collapse: no way in hell he could jump it and the rubble pile was more situated to the left side. He got to moving again and hoped he was going the right way.  _ Honestly he was just glad to get out of here, the tiny islands with cacti inhabiting them just off the path were beginning to weird him out…  _

 

What was with all the moving sidewalks? This was the third room with a pair of alternating conveyor belts on the floor, not working as usual. There were pillars lining the one belt, they had buttons on them. Brainz didn’t have any intention of seeing what they did, if they did anything anymore. 

_ What was that?  _

Nothing… just more explosions in the distance, sounded like a bunch of firecrackers going off somewhere. 

 

_ Great…  _

_ Another  _ room dedicated to those volatile steam vents. This one really had it going with the tiny islands housing the vents, interconnected by I-beams and gigantic floor tiles that flickered. From the looks of it, one of the islands had collapsed: there was an empty space surrounded by the twisted beams connecting to nothing.  _ Goddamned steam though…  _ He’d had enough with the vaporized water already, only one of the vents was actually outputting any steam and it was going  _ all out.  _ The area was beginning to feel more hostile, at least Brainz didn’t have to do another leap of faith to get through here. There was yet another conveyer system that completely bypassed the vent islands for him to walk around. A million years ago he would’ve sat here for five minutes complaining about the redundancy or something.

 

_ Those are  _ **_gunshots_ ** _ I hear…  _

The rapid crackling sound only became louder as he progressed, something was going on nearby. Brainz looked to both sides of the path and could see absolutely nothing; whatever was occurring was irrelevant to him but close enough he could  _ hear  _ it, so what the hell was going on? He was too situated with the violence not to already know the answer, yet: he felt strangely drawn to the sound of battle coming from… above? Brainz looked up and saw, yeah:  _ another  _ walkway made of stone at least fifty yards across the lava chasm and about twenty above him. It wasn’t floor three, but whatever it was: it was hosting a fight. From how far down he  _ could  _ see, it looked like the way he was going was the way to get up there. Brainz began to move once more and at a faster rate at that. 

 

Normally, you’re supposed to shy away from the sound of gunshots:  _ especially  _ if you weren’t involved. This was in no way different for Brainz and here he was trotting down the path to become more acquainted with them. He had a long and uneventful passage to work through while the sound of explosions grew louder and surprised him with the sound of  _ actual  _ explosions joining in. Not strictly the rapid sound of assault rifles but  _ actual  _ explosions, like  **_bombs_ ** going off… he could  _ feel  _ the ground quaking from them! What the fuck was going on? 

 

Brainz ran. He made a turn. He glanced at more exhaust pipes (One shooting flames out the top). He ascended as the path turned into a long and obtuse ramp, the sounds of chaos were dead ahead: gunfire, explosions, shouting, and the sound of a…  **A turbine engine?**

 

Brainz stopped. He needn’t go further as the room before him was in full view. Another lightshow comprised of flares littering the ground, giving perfect sight of the situation unfolding. 

There was six of them, all were running around erratically. No clear intent to get or get  _ away  _ from somewhere, just scattering like roaches. Brainz could’ve been spotted  _ easily  _ from where he was even if he turned off his light, he  _ would’ve  _ if any of the soldiers were looking anywhere near the ground. All of them had their guns and flashlights pointed  _ up  _ and frantically moving them as if  _ searching  _ for something. 

_ What the hell…?  _

 

“On me! It’s  _ HERE!”  _

A shout as one of the flashlights steadied itself and beckoned the others to point in the same direction. They all proceeded to fire at the space above them. The very thing he was missing from this suddenly became visible as it swooped in from Brainz’s peripheral vision. 

_ Is that… a  _ **_jet?_ **

 

It was… Brainz was- the soldiers and he were looking at a passenger plane, a smaller and sentient jet plane… In light of everything: Brainz still didn’t see this coming. It soared into the airspace and garnered the gunfire from below, the engines roared loudly. Before it would pass the landmass and fly off into the distance, Brainz would see a handful of objects spawning from the plane and falling to the ground. The soldiers dove for cover, so did he. They were bombs, it was carpet bombing the soldiers. The ground trembled from the explosions, debris flew through the air like confetti and the sound of gunfire resumed as lethal force was retaliated. 

 

Brainz readied the M16 and fully prepared himself to get involved. He pointed his gun not at the five men running around before him, but at the sky: waiting for the plane to show itself again. He wasn’t aligned with  _ anyone,  _ but the monster was bigger threat and he felt a strange sense of duty to put himself in danger just for the desire to destroy it. The soldiers would be  _ after  _ it was dead, the lesser of two evils. He waited for the sound of the engines to grow, just waiting to see the white body flying out in front of him.

 

**( ! )**

 

His entire being convulsed like he’d just received an electrical shock, Brainz spun around involuntarily. There was something right  _ behind  _ him and it had just approached and  _ forced  _ him to acknowledge it. At least that’s it  _ had  _ to be, he never would’ve sensed anything in his state of focus. 

 

It looked like a miniature volcano with  _ legs,  _ a quadrupedal volcano monster. It was staring right at him, there was this bright  _ orange  _ glow radiating from its eyes…  _ leaking  _ from its eyes like tears. It was  _ lava,  _ this thing was producing  _ lava…  _ and giggling. Its voice was all kinds of distorted and warped, ominous as hell and threatening to boot. 

_ “ _ **_You’RE HUrT! I wiLL heLP you just likE the OTHerS.”_ **

 

Brainz shot it immediately, he shot it six times with the rifle. He was far beyond the leniency to let himself get burned by letting these atrocities go on their way. Red hot liquid seeped from the holes in the monster’s body, it uttered a sound that could be associated with pain and then spoke again.

**_“I am *HELpInG*... mY MagMA healS!”_ **

 

It began ‘spitting’ out hot embers and globs of lava in all directions, Brainz threw himself backwards and got back to his feet with a roll but he was still struck by some of the ‘helpful’ spittle. It landed on the forearm of his jacket and he could feel the fire trying to eat away at his flesh underneath. He patted at the glowing spot immediately, putting himself out while grunting painfully.  _ Spiteful son of a bitch.  _

 

Brainz reaffirmed the gun on the monster before the gnawing pain even subsided in his arm, he pulled the trigger as fast as he could: hearing it giggle incessantly as the shots came out. He had a plan for the moment the gun would run dry to huck it at the monster while going for the shotgun still affixed to his back. He never made it that far, something interrupted the encounter. 

 

An  _ ungodly  _ loud  sound nullified everything audible, this clamorous sound of screeching and groaning metal mixed with the overpowering base of rumbling earth. The entire world trembled and felt like it was  _ moving:  _ this was nothing like the tremors. Brainz rasped out a shout, his balance was gone and his grip on the rifle was lost: instead going to pick it back up he covered his ears and hunched into himself. This had to be ‘it’ he thought, the mountain was imploding on itself finally: and he was  _ so  _ close. How long would he buried in the rubble, because he  _ obviously  _ was going to survive it. He tensed and braced himself for the crushing weight and… nothing. The sound and quaking subsided and when he opened his eyes again, everything was still as it was. 

_ What?... What happened- _

The monster he was facing didn’t seem to care about anything outside of trying to kill Brainz, the moment it saw his eyes meeting with its, it attacked. Brainz blurted desperately and exasperatedly. 

“Oh  _ C’MON!!!” _

_ Throat, HURTS, bad idea... _

 

The monster manifested some kind of personal cloud from the opening atop its ‘head’ Brainz could’ve sworn it had a face to it. The ‘cloud’ began emitting miniscule bolts of cartoonish looking lightning, doing this by the  _ dozens _ and spraying them  _ everywhere  _ just like the embers and lava. When they inevitably hit him (Despite his desperate efforts), he could feel the bolt of pain rushing from his limbs directly to his heart. The guttural noises he made just added to the pain from how hard they resonated up his throat, to the point drool was seeping from the corners of his mouth. 

**_ENOUGH._ **

 

The painful grunt turned into an angry growl, Brainz lifted the shotgun from his back and put a heaping amount of buckshot into the monster’s demented, glowing face. He aimed a little high (Actually he didn’t aim at all) and ended up breaking the spout of the volcano off, magma poured down the monster’s face. Brainz fired again. And again. And  _ again.  _ And  **_again._ ** The red shells almost collided with each other in the air, the pump was racked as fast as it could go. The monster lost mass, each hit shattering its body like ceramic and splattering dust and lava onto the ground. When it fell over on itself, Brainz stopped firing: the only thing producing more smoke than the monster’s body was the shotgun.

 

It looked like a jack-o-lantern that had been smashed open, the magma poured onto the ground like a pool of blood: it began to dim and congeal as it seemingly cooled down. Even with its face entirely gone and its body now basically hollow… the beast still uttered to Brainz. It rasped weakly. 

“ **_ok... so. *Not* helping?... sorry.”_ **

 

**_*POOF!*_ **

It disappeared into a big cloud of dust, Brainz had approached it right before it ceased to live and took the full blast from the monster’s death. The dust took to him immediately and covered him like a blanket, he inhaled from the shudder and surprise at the worst time and could feel the powder going down his damaged windpipe. 

His actions were both uncontrollable and willful from the sheer repulsion he felt, Brainz coughed and tried to fan all the dust away from him. It was horrible, he couldn’t see and could feel it sticking to his skin. Worst of all was his throat, how it irritated it so much more no matter how much he hacked out. Every cough was just another jolt of searing pain, and it only lessened with each one until it felt better than before. 

“The fuck? It’s-”

Brainz whispered to himself as some residual wheezes came out, he saw more of those floating hearts dissipating into air (Two green ones) but he wasn’t too interested in that so much as himself. Some more forceful coughs were had and yeah… the terrible burning pain was actually going away. His throat was still sore as hell but that was nothing now. He tested his speaking ability.

“Aaaaahh, uhhmmm. Maaaa. Muhm-muhm-muhm… Ohh thank god, that’s so much better… What happened to me exactly?” 

 

He whipped his head to the pile of dust, the instant he remembered.

“ _ Wait!  _ SOULS!” 

But they were already gone… nothing but a big pile of dust.

But it was  _ fine!  _ As long as they weren’t down the gullet of a filthy monster trying to wipe out humanity. Brainz did a  _ good  _ thing just now, he actually  _ believed  _ that. He felt better about himself, actually doing something beneficial for the world. Nevermind that he was the reason it was in  _ jeopardy…   _

_ Any _ who… lingering and overthinking anything right now was less than ideal for multiple reasons, just take the silver lining for its face value and get going. He grabbed his dropped weapon, reloaded the shotgun, and shook as much dust from himself as he could before returning to investigate the commotion up ahead. It had all gone suspiciously silent after the terrible rumbling ordeal.  He thought for  _ sure _ his own personal altercation would attract some of the attention by  _ now,  _ but then again: being bombed inside of a cave by a sentient plane was probably more pressing than Brainz. 

 

It really  _ had  _ gone quiet, what happened? There was no way that stupid thing took down an entire  _ squad:  _ maybe they defeated it and went on their way. Brainz already remembered how to huff amusedly. 

“Pff- _ ehh _ ,  _ right. _ ” 

Most likely outcome would be the soldiers’ problem would become  _ his _ just like every other incident shared with them. How  _ he  _ would have a chance in hell when they didn’t, that would be the million dollar question wouldn’t it? 

 

He stopped, perturbed. 

“Whuh. What the.”

He stood at the very way into the impromptu battleground with his gun drawn and adrenaline pumping, but something was missing:  _ the entire freaking  _ **_room._ **

“The fuck?

What. The  _ fuck?...”  _

 

…

 

“Oh-  _ Hooley,  _ **shit!”**

That was the sound of realization. That definitely  _ wasn’t  _ an earth tremor he felt: no, too much  _swaying._  Instead, it was the entire room folding in on itself, sending tons of stone and steel into the magma below alongside the soldiers who were absolutely dead at this point. Brainz didn’t resign himself to  _ any  _ of his wild imagination: he looked right over the jagged edge of the path at all the distant shapes sinking into the sea of heat below. The bodies were already gone.

“That coulda been  _ me.  _ That coulda  _ taken  _ me down too!”

_ Jesus Christ. These close calls are bad for my heart.  _

 

But wait, what happened to the plane? It was probably the reason this even came  _ down,  _ dropping fucking bombs on unstable ground as it was. That goddamned thing just cut him off! What was he supposed to do  _ now?!  _ There was  _ nothing  _ here! 

Wait! There it is again, the sound of the engine! It was coming up from below and getting louder by the second. Brainz paused his frustration and backed away from the edge until he had sufficient clearance to go prone on the ground. 

 

Like some demon ascending from the depths of a fiery hell, the plane came into view. It was somehow hovering in the air and lingering around as to check out its work. Brainz never had the chance to observe  _ his  _ work with leisure, it made this all the more insulting. 

 

_ Is it wearing a hat?  _

It was… as if that was the most striking detail about this  _ anomalous  _ anomalous thing. It was covered with bullet holes that glew like christmas lights along its body and Brainz could see this  **_blue_ ** glow inside one of the windows. Yes, it was  _ blue:  _ there was no mistaking it just like the inherent embodiment of SOULS he saw before. 

There were  _ more  _ lights coming from the pit: five of them in all sorts of colors just floating upwards towards the plane like dandelion seeds flying in the air. More SOULS! It was about to absorb them all, it was trying to get to  _ seven!  _

_ Fuck, fuck, FUCK.  _

What was he gonna do. He had to do _something!_ The feeling of duty returned and enveloped him like a blanket. Of everything he was experiencing, the need to kill this thing raged inside of him unhindered by tactic or survival. He just _had_ to fucking do this, he _WANTED TO._ It had to _DIE._ Brainz pushed himself up to a crouch and glared at the thing through the red scope, somehow it was oblivious to his presence. The SOULS were being funneled into one of the engines, they were just about to be sucked into it, one by one. 

_ If we’re all fucked, I may as well get it over for me NOW while I can still be a pain in someone’s ASS!  _

Every voice in his head  _ screamed  _ at him to pull the trigger… except  _ hers.  _ She all but begged him not to do it, but when had her advice ever gone well? His finger squeezed the hanging lever and the gun fired. 

 

* * *

  
  


Only one bullet emerged from the gun barrel, he could  _ see  _ it spawning from the red flower that bloomed out of the gun. He had all the time in the world to see it heading relentlessly for the plane, not a sound was made: nothing could be heard over the ringing in his ears and the slow drum below his neck. The lone bullet soared through the air and when enough time in this altered perception passed: it found its mark in the turbine engine closest to Brainz. 

 

**_9_ **

_ A gasp from someone, they never saw it coming.  _

**_9999_ **

_ The unmistakable sound of lead striking metal, a hammer clashing with the wind chime.   _

**_9999999.999999_ **

 

The world caught up with Brainz: a brilliant flash took the entire room, showering everything with blinding light and radiating with heat. It was so  _ powerful _ , it swept him off his feet and sent him to the ground. The ringing subsided and the sound of the  _ blast  _ is what took its place. 

 

That one bullet doomed the unholy aircraft to a fate of its own composition: it was destroyed instantly by the ball of fire that burst from inside of it.  By the time Brainz returned to normal awareness, all he would witness was a rain of smoldering metal bits and black smoke trailing all the way to the pit below. That and six glimmering hearts falling slowly like ashes… The sound of the explosion resonated for minutes. 

 

He watched as the souls fell into the glowing sea and vanished.

 

Brainz took his hand away from his singed eyebrows and beard stubble and caressed the receiver of his gun, looking at it with a seemingly boundless respect. He had so many questions… But the only thing on his mind right now was that the  **deed… was done.** He killed it, the grand death only made it easier to confirm.

 

The sense of duty he felt was ignited by the sordid deed and became this overwhelming feeling of  _ vindication.  _

 

_ What a RUSH.  _ He hadn’t felt this kind of high for a  _ long  _ time, it felt  _ good _ . It made it easier to ignore all the pains plaguing him, his throat didn’t even hurt anymore and he could walk confidently on his injured leg without so much as a twinge. This Level of Vindication when he dusted that water monster in self defense and it only grew with each beast he put down. They  _ deserved it,  _ that’s why he felt no guilt, but what about Toriel? She deserved it more than anyone, more than these impersonal encounters but when Brainz shot her: he didn’t feel a single thing. Well… at least he felt like he’d have no problem pulling the trigger on the next monster he saw. 

 

Alright though… back to the world with all its problems. Despite giving payback to the thing that caused this collapse, it didn’t change the fact that Brainz wasn’t going this way anymore. He had no choice but to double back. At least  _ that  _ went without incident. 

 

“Huhm?” 

Brainz was slightly too occupied on his way up the path that he only noticed the peculiarity of it on his way back. There was massive stone pillar off the side and placed in of it was a large wall safe occupying a nightstand. It seemed odd how untouched it was considering the soldiers had to have come from here, but then again it was a safe… A safe containing a piece of cheese? 

“Again with the cheese. What’s up with that?”

 

And there was the mousehole placed right next to the table like some physical code or subtle correlation. In the end it was going to be just another curiosity to add to the mass grave, Brainz audibly shrugged and gave the hole a little nudge with his boot. The hole shot up from the ground with a sharp whizzing noise that made Brainz flinch. The hole was no more and a decently sized portion of the wall was gone too, they had been rolled up to the top of the no longer concealed entrance. Out of everything he speculated for the mousehole and cheese conundrum, being a secret entrance to something like some kind of spy movie was not very high in his thoughts. He honestly didn’t see it coming, or figure the reason behind it but he did admire the ingenuity of it: the safe with the cheese was nothing more than a means to detract attention from the wallpaper beside it. 

“Huh. Not…  _ Bad. _ ”

He was still slightly dumbfounded and convinced himself he had to investigate this. How could he  _ not?  _

 

The entrance was indented some, it housed a rather sizable door that looked like it belonged in a bank vault or a submarine. Stranger and stranger… It intimidated Brainz with nothing more than the implications of what door made of reinforced steel and tungsten would possibly be used for. There was something painted on it too, a faded couple of words done from a stencil. 

**_HOTLAND MAINTENANCE ACCESS 12. ROYAL PERSONNEL ONLY._ **

 

“... You gotta be fucking  **kidding.** ” 

 

Brainz groaned effortfully, the valve on the access door didn’t want to give in so easily but once he got it to turn a couple of degrees with a loud  **_*KLUNK*_ ** it was more cooperative for the rest of the revolutions. He could hear the latches scraping against the housings inside. He gave the door a modest push, realized his error: and then pulled on it. It groaned and creaked like a waking beast but at last: the door was open. Brainz could hear the hot air rushing through the open crevice, into a pitch black world. He was almost hesitant to shine the light inside and when he finally did: it was just a claustrophobic stairwell. 

 

There was a bout of disappointment at the less than grand discovery, but he remembered he was supposed to be  _ glad  _ about this. Nothing nonsensical or actively trying to kill him? The stairs went up and down and was that a  _ handrail  _ climbing between the gap in landings? Yeah it was… it was one of the best and most sensible things he’d seen down here. No wonder why it was sealed and hidden away, it didn’t add up to the bullshit that dominated this place. 

 

“Ugh. It’s really stuffy in here.”

Despite the complaint, Brainz took the minute to unroll the wallpaper and to reseal the large door behind him, he felt the pressure shifting in his ears.

“But  _ hey!  _ STAIRS! I never thought I’d be  _ so  _ glad to take the stairs, and this  _ handrail!”  _

His laughter echoed up the confined space, his footsteps also followed as he decided to go up. 

 

Sixty-four steps on eight cramped and unlit landings, Brainz took the first opportunity to get out when he saw a ladder going up into a hatch on the ceiling of the ninth landing. The isolation was nice but also felt like a tomb in the making. A bright red lever under the hatch was turned and Brainz prodded the hatch open with the barrel of his gun. He felt the hot air blowing in his face as the pressure equalized but all he could see was more darkness outside. After the lack of anything exciting, Brainz climbed out from the enclosed space.

 

He contested all the darkness around with his flashlight as he took the area in

 

… 

 

“Oh wait a minute,  _ I  _ know where I am!”

  
  


He recognized the table with the checkered cloth that made him yell like a frightened girl, more specifically the spider under it. If this was  _ that  _ particular table, then this meant that just behind Brainz would be.

“The elevator…” 

 

**3R**

 

He looked back to the open hatch he emerged from and frowned.

“... I’m not gonna even wonder how much trouble I woulda saved myself if I found this in the first place…” 

 

 

**27:28:29**

**27:28:28**

**27:28:27**

**...**

 

 

 

 


	25. Resort to Core

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For flowey, he said he'd be there in a bit.  
> To Toriel, she could wait. He had an eternity in hell to spend with her...
> 
> I'm coming...  
> I'm coming...
> 
> Just a little while longer...  
> I'll stay determined for just a little more..  
> For you.
> 
> -Thank you.

Funny how a little darkness could really change the atmosphere in a familiar setting, there was just something about it that emphasized the feeling of impending doom. If it wasn’t for the (overturned and lying in halves) spider table and deductive reasoning: Brainz wouldn’t have realized he was on the third floor because  _ nothing  _ was as it was. Mind the heat, it was still agonizingly hot and stuffy up here but that was a given for everywhere. 

The lights on the floor were off, the spinning cogs and lasers in the distance were gone. The freaking  _ elevator  _ was gone, it must have went down with the most recent collapse. At least there wouldn’t be any wild animals climbing up the shaft like last time.

_ What was that thing again- came up the elevator and chased me into the spiders… _

_ The spiders? _

_ Oh. _

_ Ohhh noo…  _

 

“This was always inevitable, Brainz. You knew you were going to approach this again…”

 

Enough with that  _ condescending  _ voice! She knew  _ everything  _ and wanted to shove it in his face at every chance she could. Why was it that she only piped up whenever he was under heavy duress anyway? 

“ _ No,  _ I did  _ NOT _ . I did  _ not  _ plan I was gonna have to put myself  _ through  _ that again! I didn’t have to when I went  _ back _ . Did I?  _ No!  _ I didn’t. So shut the fuck up!”

 

-“But here you are. And here we are lingering.”

 

“I fucking  _ know  _ that! You think I’m blind and  _ stupid??” _

 

“What will you do now? Your inherent fear. You are hiding from accepting what you have seen. You know she was one of them. Your figures of hate and decay."

 

_ They ensnared me and felt me all over with those long and PRICKLY limbs, I could feel them crawling up my pants and down my sleeves; their tiny steps RATTLED in my EARS. I can’t even think about it. _

 

The hairs on him began to stand, they  _ itched  _ and  _ tingled  _ all over like the footsteps of a million tiny bugs. Brainz twitched and shivered.

“NO, she- _ wasn’t _ ! She WASN’T!”

 

“You are only lying to yourself, only you know what you did. How you blindly embraced her, indulging in the deception from your mind, weakened by the terror you inflicted on yourself.”

 

The icy feeling gripping at him evolved into a full panic.

“ _ WHY  _ would they do  _ anything  _ good. They’re  _ EVIL,  _ and  _ FUCK’N  _ creepy! I  **_HATE THEM._ ** I HATE THEM  _SOOOO_ MUCH!!!” 

 

She never raised her voice,always knowing what to say. 

“You were wrong about them, Brainz. Just as you have been about everything. You have wasted countless lives on a journey that was never justified, you will continue this wanton destruction and hatred until you have exhausted your ability to hate. Would it not be so much nicer for you and  _ everyone  _ you have ever harmed if you put an end to this  _ now?  _ You do not have to perpetuate this cycle, you can end it  _ here _ with only  _ one.  _ More. Bullet. The first and last bullet you will have ever fired in an act of mercy…  _ Just kill yourself…”  _

 

A punch was sent careening for Toriel’s snout but she wasn’t even present to take it. Brainz grunted frustratedly, adding to it with frenzied puffs. 

“Where  _ are  _ you?!”

 

The white fur caught his left peripheral vision, he tried to smack her with the blunt side of his rifle but she was gone before he even thrust the gun. 

“ _ Where?! WHERE?!  _

You sunova  _bitch!"_

He spun around madly but no matter where he swung, no matter how fast he did. Brainz never landed a single hit on her: she always knew where to be and where to go before he did. She knew  _ exactly  _ when his stance was open: to reach out and grab him by his neck with her long claws. Toriel tightened her grip and closed Brainz’s airway, she felt every one of his feeble attempts to gasp as he struggled. She lifted him up into the air and stared him in his bulging and bloodshot eyes. 

 

Something changed about her, her voice became strained and Brainz could see red beginning to form around her eyes.

_ “ _ I do not  _ appreciate  _ this  **_game_ ** you are playing at.  **_Child.”_ **

 

Her grip tightened even further for a moment, garnering a guttural noise from Brainz. He’d dropped his rifle and moved his arms to free his neck but she wouldn’t budge. Toriel’s voice dropped to a low and cold growl, the red spread all around her and the smell of burning diffused into the air. 

“My  _ patience  _ is at an end with you. Since you choose to  **_*willingly*-”_ **

Another short lived crush on his throat with its excruciating noise. 

“-disregard my  _ kind  _ advice to you. I will just have to  **_*show*_ ** you the way. As a good mother  **_*should*.”_ **

 

Toriel began heading for the side of the walkway, everything Brainz did to escape her grasp was in vain. He was too panicked and increasingly light headed to reach for his other weapons or to fight strategically. He was almost suspended over the vast chasm below when a  **_JARRING_ ** *popping!* sound erupted from somewhere on their floor. It scared Toriel away and Brainz was released and dropped to the hard floor.

(...)

It took him some time to recover, to actually breathe instead of feebly choke for air. When he did and got back to his feet, Brainz treated himself with the remainder of the water canteen he took. It was like drinking bath water but it felt good going down and onto his hands and face. He tossed the empty thing into his inventory and sighed gruffly.

“Next time I see her, she’s  _ dead.”  _

 

A cough as he rubbed his aching neck.   
  
  


This floor was  _ trashed,  _ there were missing panels and parts all over. Not to mention the visible  _ warping,  _ the floor was anything  _ but  _ straight and the growing sounds of groaning metal did  _ not  _ inspire confidence. Brainz already saw pieces of this floor scattered all over the lower one and couldn’t imagine it would exist for much longer. This was  _ more  _ evident in his return to the true demented hopscotch room or what was left of it. 

 

Half of the platforms were flat out  _ gone,  _ two of them were on their way down as they sagged and tilted precariously, and a good portion were glowing red hot from pent up heat.

“Fucking perfect!” 

 

One minute to make some deductions: he couldn’t just stroll across in six jumps anymore. If Brainz wanted to get to the other side, he would have to make a total of eleven jumps and in his current state. It didn’t help it was still  _ really  _ dark and that the entire floor kept shaking even  _ more _ with each bout of it, but when was it supposed to be easy for him? 

The first four went without much incident. He needed minutes between each leap to recover his stamina and prepare for the next jump. The fifth one where he had to turn left… not so much. His landing caused a loud rattling sound to come from below and before he knew it, the entire platform shifted down by a foot. 

_ “Oh god!”  _

 

_ Quickly:  _ Brainz threw his M16 up onto the next platform and stepped back for the run distance: the adrenal response from mortal danger allowed him to skip the resting part and get straight to leaping for his life. The failing platform  **_*klanged!*_ ** loudly when he disembarked from it, but his concern was beyond that as only his arms made it to the next spot and had to contest with the rest of him which seemed content with falling. 

 

Nothing to grip, slippingslipping **_SLIPPING._ **

**_“Ow!”_ **

His hands felt something  _really_ hot. The steam grate, his fingers could get a grip between the bars but it was so  _ hot!  _ It was like touching a stovetop but he had no  _ choice  _ if he wanted to  _ live!  _

 

_ I DON’T!  _

 

Brainz gritted and nestled his fingers firmly into the grate, his legs scrambled against the smooth metal.

“Ow. Owowow _ OwOWOWOO _ **_OWOWOWH!”_ **

He pulled himself up and was partially blinded by his own gun’s flashlight as it was laying pointed at him on the other side of the platform. The gloves on his hands were peeled off immediately and his actual hands end up in his mouth one by one to cool them off as well as flapping them in the air. A couple of sighs were had and when he glanced back at the depressed floor he leapt from.

“Piece of fucking  _ shit.”  _

 

The platform responded by dropping down with an even  _ louder  _ **_*KLUNK!*_ ** and then utterly collapsing, sending itself off with a painfully loud  **_*HISS*_ ** as steam escaped the disintegrating tower.  

 

“Well fuck you too!” 

 

He was fine in the end and so were the tactical gloves, they were just a little melty in the rubber parts around the tips. They weren’t like sticking your hands into easy bake ovens anymore, so he put them back on and continued through the rest of the room: this time with even more precaution and paranoia. 

 

After the final jump.

“ _ Uufh- _

There! I fucking made it.  _ Again!   _ I’ma  _ burn  _ the entire place down if I have to come here  _ one  _ more time… 

As he left, Brainz looked in the general vicinity where the north building was: thinking about that monster made of green fire he traumatized. He wondered what became of her… Before the compulsive vindication threw her in with the rest of the monsters as ‘threats’. He wasn’t going to waste any more thought on the matter. Fuck everyone.

 

Through the gaping hole in the spider deterrent blast door, no power running through here meant no more sparks from all the exposed electrical components:  _ that  _ was an improvement at least.  

 

Now came the hard part. The egregiously understated hard part that made up the worst experience he’d ever had underground let alone in his pitiful life. Brainz only stopped in his tracks and tried to think of a detour two times as opposed to the fifty or so times when he first discovered this quite frank and obvious personal attack on him that had no business existing until he arrived here. This piece of concentrated karma bent on tormenting him in a way no other-

 

“Please don’t make me fucking go in there again. Just  _ PLEASE!”  _

 

There was going through there and reuniting with Flowey and saving the world by killing Asgore, and then there was staying back here and lingering around until some unstoppable force killed him. His last thought would be on how well Flowey took the fact he lied about coming back or the betrayal from the only person he could trust very well: how he would be the last kid Brainz ever let down in his life. 

 

“ **ALRIGHT ALREADY!!!! I’M** **_GOING!!!!_ ** **”**

  
  


He walked as close to the entrance as he could without his reflexes forcing him to run away, his legs were trembling so much that his knees collided with each other. But  _ maybe,  _ he thought: maybe he didn’t have to waltz in there… 

“Hello?... Is anybody  _ home?”  _

 

He called out into the room but only his own voice answered back in the form of the echo. 

“ _ Hello???  _ Seriously, I need to  _ talk  _ to someone!”   
  


He knew exactly who he was trying to hail but didn’t know how he would keep his cool when she showed up and bore her six arms… He had to dig through the willful obscuration of his memory, knowing what she did for him and why she would do it again. 

 

_ But she’s a fucking monster… a SPIDER MONSTER. It’s the same world ending shit with more EVIL on top! DON’T TRY IT, DON’T TRUST THEM. You KNOW what the fucking GOAT did to you, why would THIS be any DIFFERENT?!  _

 

“ **_PLEASE._ ** I’m terrified beyond all REASON, I can’t make myself go in here and I need  _ HELP.” _

 

**_But nobody came…_ **

 

Why wasn’t anybody  _ answering  _ him? He didn’t  _ imagine  _ those voices last time: he may have been scared enough to piss himself but he didn’t hallucinate them. Brainz couldn’t stay in the dark any longer, he’d been refraining from shining the weapon light into the room out of trying not to piss off what lived there, but this was starting to piss off his phobia. 

 

The light flooded the dark space and he saw…  _ nothing.  _ No cobwebs, no  _ spiders _ .  **_Nothing._ **

 

**“** _ What?!” _

 

Brainz actually leaned into the doorway and immediately he was assaulted by this repugnant odor, it smelled like the dirtiest and most rotten thing in the world had been burned to ashes in here. Burning hair didn’t smell this bad, Brainz felt sick on the spot and retreated his head to avoid suffocating. 

“ **_Awwgh,_ ** fuck! What  _ is  _ that??”

 

His coughs and wretches would be detrimental, they prevented him from hearing the sound of giant feet pattering behind him until it was too late. He only just got wind of it and glanced over his shoulder- **Before Toriel in a full sprint:** **_pushed_ ** **him through the entrance and sent him falling towards his death.**   
  
  


To _both_ of their surprises: Brainz didn’t fall to his death so much as half of a story down. The room _wasn’t_ endless or all that deep and he landed on something rather soft and sticky. After Brainz leapt out of whatever it was (complete with panicked shouting and frantic rubbing to get it all off of him), he picked up his dropped weapon and the flashlight allowed him to see. Large pile of cobwebs sitting in the corner of the room. After the second freakout and even more intensive shaking and rubbing; something occurred to him and overrode the amounting terror. He was covered in _soot,_ that pile of cobwebs was more soot than anything. In fact, he couldn’t actually see _any_ kind of web or even so much as single **_spider!_** (Of course his mind _assumed_ they were all there and watching him… but he would never get to see one). 

 

… 

 

“Oh  _ god….” _

The overwhelming smell was connected with what he saw. This place had been completely immolated.

  
  


[They all fell down...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsN1IafC33Y&feature=youtu.be)

  
  


There was nothing but piles of ash and melted silk that were almost as tall as him atop a tiled floor. That  person  monster that dragged him out of here and broke his thoughts was most likely dead. Brainz felt more  _ sick  _ than anything: the smell, the realization, the residual terror: it was too much. He couldn’t stop himself from wretching uncontrollably, there was nothing in his stomach to really sick up so he was confined to dry heaving as he urgently wandered through the room. 

He inadvertently kicked something on the ground, it felt like a rock. No, it looked like croissant that turned into a piece of charcoal. Strangely, there was a flower stuck to it: the petals were singed and damaged from heat. Was that crying he heard? He wasn’t even sure anymore, the sound of high pitched sobbing was coming from all around. Brainz’s head was spinning, he needed to get out of here. 

 

_ Ashes. Ashes. _

_ We all fall down…. _

_ Could she carry a tune?  _

_ Could it make the crying stop? It’s not going away, it never will. _

_ My head… it hurts.  _

_ Undyne was right about me… I’ve killed just as many spiders as I have people. I’m a bad person, this is a bad place: this is where the bad people go. Why did they let me go… what did I do to deserve it? Why can’t I ever be sure?  _

_ What has the world done to you? _ __   
__ Done to me? I’m a PART of it, I’m just as bad, it’s never about me. We’re all sick, there’s no denying it. Nobody is well.   
  


_... _

 

This room  _ was  _ legitimate in the end: there was a metal staircase leading up to the exit, it looked like it belonged to a fire escape on the side of a building. It was  _ covered  _ in melted webs which made it really sticky: his footsteps crackled like bubble wrap again. He didn’t get himself stuck this time and celebrated his departure from the room with a long breath of fresh(er) air. And then he threw up on the ground.

 

Welp, the burning in his throat was back: all Brainz could do was wipe his mouth and keep going. His subconscious was too full to push what he just went through into obscurity, he just had to let it eat away at him and further scrape his shred of sanity away…

 

But hey! He  _ made  _ it! After he walked through a much more destroyed looking theatre stage, Brainz stepped into the intersection outside the resort. He  _ actually  _ made it through this overheated deathtrap! 

 

He looked down, the large pile of dust was still present from last time: it was much shorter now. Like it had been spread out and kicked around, the metal helmets were nowhere to be found. Brainz glanced towards the elevator where he first  _ saw  _ the metal helmets when they were still attached to their owners: the elevator was still standing which was a… probably a bad thing. No worries though, there was huge scorch mark coming from the gaping hole where the doors used to be, the lift was permanently out of service. If anybody wanted to follow him they would have to go through the funhouse like he did. 

 

Enough of that though, time to get moving, Brainz carefully ascended the staircase to the resort, making sure nobody was present before he’d show himself so blatantly-

“Holy  _ shit.”  _

 

The resort had seen better days. It looked like a full on  _ siege  _ took place here: the  windows and doors were shattered and he could see fires reflecting off the jagged shards of glass from within on the upper floor. The windows on the bottom floor were partially boarded up. There were chunks of debris and gravel (some the size of mini fridges) scattered everywhere. Brainz was the only one here though… the battle here was long over, not a trace of life: only overwhelming evidence of the contrary. There was so much dust, it looked like the ground was covered in  _ snow _ wherever there weren’t craters painted with scorch marks. There was one thing that Brainz felt compelled to look for, he couldn’t get it out of his mind: he stepped through the battleground and went into the alleyway beside the resort.

 

When he left this place a long time ago, he was  _ hoping  _ he’d see it if he ever came back: but now he wasn’t so sure… the suspense was just adding to the stress. He ended up finding exactly what he was looking for.  **_Red._ **

 

There was blood splattered on the wall beside a dumpster riddled with bullet holes, the height and length of the splatter told Brainz that the two girls he left behind followed his advice. The pool of blood on the ground told him that they followed it  _ so  _ well that they killed the guy. The overall realization about what was going  _ on  _ around here told him that he could be tried for complacency with monsters trying to end the world.  _ The bullet holes in the dumpster meant MAYBE it was a draw in the end and everybody died! Brainz couldn’t get that dumpster lid open FAST ENOUGH, he looked inside with his eyes about to burst from their sockets and- _

 

It was empty: well, still full of  _ garbage  _ but no sign of Bratty, Catty, or the  _ gun  _ he gave them, not even a speck of dust. This was probably foreboding… but what about Burgerpants?

 

_ What *about* him? He’s just another threat, like the two others you just helped. _

 

No… that can’t be right, Burgerpants was actually  _ cool.  _ He didn’t give two shits about the his or the humans’ world ending, he cared more about his dead end  _ job  _ than anything. If  _ every  _ monster was part of this conspiracy, then that meant so was  _ Burgerpants _ . But that made no sense! Right? 

 

**Stop.**

There really was no point in hurting his head trying to think about it, not when it wasn’t going to matter in the long run. 

 

“Hoooley shhh- _ it…”  _

 

He thought the outside of the resort looked bad? The inside was  _ worse.  _ It looked like the soldiers had set up a makeshift barricade out of the various furnishings in the building. Judging by the sheer devastation and the  **_bodies:_ ** it didn’t do them very much good. It looked like something  _ big  _ strolled through the middle of the room and made easy work of all that got in its way, even the unsightly fountain was no more than dripping wet chunks and a pipe spraying the ceiling with water. 

 

There was no doubt in his mind that every soldier present in this room was very deceased. Half of the bodies were unrecognizable, they weren’t even full  _ bodies:  _ just  _ pieces  _ of a person scattered around the floor amidst chunks of viscera and eviscerated flesh. He’d never seen anything so physically horrific, not even portrayed in movies. He couldn’t feel anything that would properly relay this place to thought, it all felt numb… Except the dread of seeing the path of destruction going straight to the very place he needed to go, the CORE. What was he supposed to expect to run  _into_ in there? A tornado made of chainsaws? Look at this fucking place!

 

Brainz did all he could to step over the puddles and bloody chunks of person, but it was just  _everywhere._ He was going to step on  _something_ sooner or later and it wouldn't be his fault.

 

He tried to focus on the scavenging opportunity for this place, as horrible as that sounded to him: he had to look after himself after all. H e wasn’t going to touch anything covered in blood (even with gloves on). It didn’t really matter though, there wasn’t a trace of any  _ weapons  _ or  _ equipment  _ anywhere: not even any backpacks to search through. He  _ could’ve  _ checked the uniform pockets and pouches, but there was no way he was doing  _ that.  _ There was nothing of value here, the closest thing would be the  _ countless  _ bullet casings, shells and empty magazines collecting on the floor. One particular casing caught Brainz’s attention enough for him to bend over and pick it up despite it being partially covered in blood. 

 

**_40 millimeter, High Explosive cartridge. Somebody had a GRENADE LAUNCHER and it wasn’t enough… Jesus Christ._ **

 

It got better, something else took his attention and caused him to drop the larger cartridge back to the bloodsoaked carpet. 

 

“Is that a fucking  **_rocket launcher?!”_ **

 

He saw the cylindrical weapon leaning against the reception desk in the room, when he got a better look it: Brainz couldn’t help but stutter incoherently before proper words would come out of his mouth again.

“ **_I_ ** -It-It-ju I-eeii-i-It-”

 

He took a quick breath.

“- It’s a fucking  _ rocket launcher!  _ They brought a fucking rocket launcher down here! I’m looking. At a fucking rocket launcher!-”

 

Three more of his declarative statements ended in ‘Fucking rocket launcher’ before he could move on his train of thought. 

“This is- this is an  **_AT4._ ** Thi-th th-i- This is what you use to destroy  **_tanks_ ** with!  **_Why_ ** does the National Guard have a rocket launcher??  **_Why_ ** did they bring a rocket launcher  **_underground_ ** **_???”_ ** ****_  
  
_

He looked down the business end of the weapon and dampened his tone some.

“For that matter… what did they  _ use _ this thing on?”

 

The recoilless tube was empty, the rocket inside had been fired already. The weapon was designed to be only used once. Once the rocket inside was fired, the weapon was to be discarded. It was basically nothing more than a fifteen pound bullet casing at this point. 

“The world has gone  _ insane.  _ Even the soldiers are crazy! They’re bringing explosives underground and-  _ it’s not like we don’t NEED them-  _ but what the fuck, man? Was this  _ intentional  _ or something? Did they know something I  _ didn’t?  _ That would explain why they just up and started  _ shooting  _ everyone, they had good reason to! But how would they  _ know?  _ And why would they wait until someone like  _ me  _ gets stuck in this place?? Why would they keep  _ Asgore  _ alive, or his bitch of a minion? I don’t  _ get it _ . Nothing makes  _ sense  _ anymore. Is this  _ really  _ real life…?” 

 

Part of his disdain was admittedly that he was jealous that  _ he  _ didn’t get to have a rocket launcher… never mind how he would actually manage to lug the thing  _ around…  _ But he’d also settle for a grenade launcher let alone simply getting his hands on more fragmentation grenades. 

It was about time to move on, the long lasting earthquake that jostled all the dead furniture around reminded Brainz that he really needed to go. He wasn’t at all enthusiastic about trailing whatever brute forced its way into the core or how the core itself was faring but he knew he was ultimately dead regardless of how long he lingered. He composed himself to move on and-

 

OK, One more thing: he couldn’t pass through here without looking into the fast food restaurant. Whether he expected to see Burgerpants alive and well or a somehow distinguished pile of dust: he really didn’t know. 

 

A lot of dust scattered around the restaurant's lobby, some bullet casings, and a dead soldier slumped against the front of the counter, sitting in a pool of his own blood:  _ what else did he expect?  _ At least the body was still mostly  _ intact:  _ apart from the huge claw marks that apparently cut through reinforced kevlar, ceramic plating, and flesh…  _ hey though! This one still had his gun.  _

 

It was just another standard issue M16 laying in the man’s lap, but there was something a tad  _ different  _ about this particular one. Instead of a red-eyed optic mounted on top, there was nothing more than a foldable leaf sight: or the kind of sight that was used and paired with the grenade launcher mounted under the gun. 

 

**_M203 underbarrel mounted 40mm Grenade launcher._ **

 

“Well then… at least  _ somebody’s  _ trying to cheer me up…”

 

But an irritated scoff followed him picking the weapon up.

“ _ Ugh,  _ it’s covered in  _ blood.  _ I appreciate the intent and all, but- eugh it's all over me now.”

At least  _ this  _ weapon had a sling on it.

 

Brainz slid the grenade launcher open and a large round toppled out.

**_HE(High Explosive)_ **

“Nice, still good.”

 

Back into the launcher it went. He couldn’t find anymore grenade rounds to take with him, but having  _ one  _ was still better than not having any at all. Unfortunately now, this was where he and the original M16 had to part ways: he swapped the magazines and adjusted the new rifle until it fit him better. He decided to lay down his old one against the soldier’s chest, in doing so though: he may have activated the radio still clinging to the man’s armor. The static hissed at him.

 

“ _ Oh…” _

He was hesitant to touch the device but at the same time, was morbidly curious and risked the extra minute staying here.

“Wonder what’s going around the horn right about now..." 

 

Brainz had no idea how this thing attached to the vest even worked: it had all those newfangled  _ buttons  _ and  _ dials  _ and displays. He turned the biggest dial and watched the numbers on the screen change as he did, hearing the static cut out for the brief intermissions between channels.

 

…

**_*click*_ **

…

**_*click*_ **

…

**_*click*_ **

…

**_*click*_ **

 

It didn’t seem like he was going to find anything, just as well: he really needed to move.

“- **_FORGET_ ** **ABOUT BRAINZ!-”**

 

Someone on the other end suddenly screamed at Brainz. He ended up jumping back and dropping the radio: it kept yelling even as it dangled back and forth on its cable. 

“- **WE ARE CUTTING OUR LOSSES AND PULLING OUT!** ** _ANYONE_** **LEFT OUT THERE NOW IS ON HIS OWN. REPEAT. IF YOU AREN’T** **ALREADY IN THE CORE, YOU ARE NOW-”**

 

The message cut out with a loud sound and then it returned to the hissing static. He could barely make it out anyway from the panicked voice to the sounds of personified chaos in the background. It was more of the same anyway, just more urgent than the last message.

 

The sign above the exit had gone out, but he could still see the letters burned into the neon.

**_CORE_ **

 

He could see sparks falling down onto the narrow bridge, the ominous glow from inside the massive building strobed and flickered. Strangely, for the first time  _genuinely:_ he felt an impending end coming. Everything to lead him to this point had been fulfilled. The feeling of  _finality_ was at its peak. Sure he still had the kingdom beyond this power station to work through: but  _this..._ this was his castle to storm. He imagined the absolute worst culminating from everything he had learned, and he expected something  _much_ worse would be in place of it. 

Brainz had no  _plan,_ no  _allies,_ no hopes to drive him. All he had was an inventory full of guns and enough of a deathwish to make him do  _anything...T_ his was about as good as it was going to get.

“This is gonna be a shitshow isn’t it?” 

 

A muffled explosion could be heard from within: the entire world trembled seconds later. He laughed and shook his head as incredulously as he'd ever done so. One final act, a personal request really: something he'd neglected to do for all this time but wasn't going to miss his last opportunity to do so. Brainz dipped his gloved finger into the closest pool of blood and finger painted his famous mark on the right on the wall leading to the core.

 

A grin took to his face, he clicked his rifle into action and followed the trail of destruction into the CORE. 

[He swaggered through the doorway...](https://youtu.be/3Qgwb9KaLp0)

 

_**  
BRAINZ** _

_**WASN'T** _

_**HERE** _

 

  
  


**26:52:42**

**26:52:41**

**26:52:40**

**...**

 


	26. 👍︎📄︎♋︎📄︎⌛︎⧫︎♓︎⧫︎●︎♏︎✁︎

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ✌︎ ❍︎♏︎⧫︎♋︎●︎ ♍︎♋︎⧫︎⬥︎♋︎●︎🙵 ⬧︎⧫︎❒︎♏︎⧫︎♍︎♒︎♏︎♎︎ ♓︎■︎⧫︎□︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♍︎♏︎■︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎ □︎♐︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♍︎⍓︎●︎♓︎■︎♎︎❒︎♓︎♍︎♋︎●︎ ♍︎♒︎♋︎❍︎♌︎♏︎❒︎📪︎ ♓︎⧫︎ ⬥︎♋︎⬧︎ ●︎♓︎🙵♏︎ ♌︎♏︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ♓︎■︎⬧︎♓︎♎︎♏︎ □︎♐︎ ♋︎ ■︎◆︎♍︎●︎♏︎♋︎❒︎ ♍︎□︎□︎●︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⧫︎□︎⬥︎♏︎❒︎📬︎ ❄︎♒︎♏︎ ⬥︎♋︎●︎●︎⬧︎ ⬥︎♏︎❒︎♏︎ ●︎♓︎■︎♏︎♎︎ ⬥︎♓︎⧫︎♒︎ ♋︎❒︎♍︎⬧︎ □︎♐︎ ♏︎●︎♏︎♍︎⧫︎❒︎♓︎♍︎♓︎⧫︎⍓︎ ♓︎■︎♐︎♓︎■︎♓︎⧫︎♏︎●︎⍓︎ ⬧︎◻︎♋︎■︎■︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ❖︎♏︎❒︎⧫︎♓︎♍︎♋︎●︎ ●︎♏︎■︎♑︎⧫︎♒︎ □︎♐︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ❒︎□︎□︎❍︎🖳︎ ❍︎♓︎●︎●︎♓︎□︎■︎⬧︎ □︎♐︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎❍︎ ⬧︎◆︎❒︎❒︎□︎◆︎■︎♎︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♏︎■︎⧫︎♓︎❒︎♏︎ ♍︎♒︎♋︎❍︎♌︎♏︎❒︎📬︎ ❄︎♒︎♏︎ ⬧︎□︎◆︎■︎♎︎ ⬥︎♋︎⬧︎ ◆︎■︎●︎♓︎🙵♏︎ ♋︎■︎⍓︎⧫︎♒︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ♒︎♏︎❼︎♎︎ ♏︎❖︎♏︎❒︎ ♒︎♏︎♋︎❒︎♎︎📬︎ ❄︎♒︎♏︎⍓︎ ♋︎●︎●︎ ♍︎♋︎❍︎♏︎ ♐︎❒︎□︎❍︎ ♌︎♏︎●︎□︎⬥︎📬︎ 👌︎♏︎●︎□︎⬥︎📪︎ ⬥︎♒︎♏︎❒︎♏︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ◆︎●︎⧫︎♓︎❍︎♋︎⧫︎♏︎ ♍︎□︎❒︎♏︎ ●︎♋︎⍓︎ ♓︎■︎ ♋︎♑︎□︎■︎⍓︎📪︎ ♏︎⌧︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎♓︎■︎♑︎ □︎◆︎⧫︎⬧︎♓︎♎︎♏︎ □︎♐︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♍︎□︎❍︎◻︎♋︎❒︎♋︎⧫︎♓︎❖︎♏︎●︎⍓︎ ■︎♋︎❒︎❒︎□︎⬥︎ ♌︎□︎◆︎■︎♎︎♋︎❒︎♓︎♏︎⬧︎ □︎♐︎ ♒︎◆︎❍︎♋︎■︎ ♍︎□︎❍︎◻︎❒︎♏︎♒︎♏︎■︎⬧︎♓︎□︎■︎📬︎ ✋︎❍︎◻︎□︎⬧︎⬧︎♓︎♌︎●︎♏︎ ⧫︎□︎ ♑︎❒︎♋︎⬧︎◻︎📪︎ ♋︎■︎ □︎♌︎🙰♏︎♍︎⧫︎♓︎❖︎♏︎ ◻︎♋︎❒︎♋︎♎︎□︎⌧︎ ⧫︎♒︎♋︎⧫︎ ♍︎□︎◆︎●︎♎︎■︎❼︎⧫︎ ♌︎♏︎ ⧫︎❒︎◆︎●︎⍓︎ ⬧︎♏︎♏︎■︎ ♌︎⍓︎ ♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ●︎♓︎❍︎♓︎⧫︎♏︎♎︎ ◻︎♏︎❒︎♍︎♏︎◻︎⧫︎♓︎□︎■︎📬︎ 💣︎□︎❒︎♏︎ ⧫︎♒︎♋︎■︎ □︎■︎♏︎ ❍︎♋︎■︎ ⬧︎♒︎□︎◆︎●︎♎︎ ♏︎❖︎♏︎❒︎ ♌︎♏︎♋︎❒︎ ⧫︎□︎ ⬥︎♓︎⧫︎■︎♏︎⬧︎⬧︎📬︎

 

[The world is ending....](https://youtu.be/7DPfblIRYEs)

 

Brainz was wrong, it wasn’t a shitshow awaiting him: it was the Armageddon itself hosted in a labyrinth of screaming klaxons and red lights. A pair of soldiers stuck to the wall by large quills were the gatekeepers that welcomed him in.

The elevator was no more than a shaft of fire, he could only go the way marked by the impaled men, a message greeted him as he passed: scrawled on the wall with their own blood.

**_DIE MONSTERS_ **

 

All Brainz could do was run, debris rained down from everywhere. Jets of superheated plasma erupted from the abyss below, they melted through the ceiling and kept going: shooting the ground below with a spray of liquid metal. 

 

_ LOOK OUT! _

 

There was a bridge suspended over the surface of the  _ sun:  _ massive flares of manifested energy rocketed across it: vaporizing anything they would touch. He had to wait for the glow to cease, before the next one would blow. Brainz sprinted across with everything he had, the sound of an eruption  _ roared  _ from behind, the ground suffered a mighty tremor and larger debris crashed to the ground all around hm.

 

No time to think, no time to talk: just  _ go.  _ **_GO._ ** You’re still in once piece, just  _ don’t  _ look back, keep going and you might  _ stay  _ like that. 

 

Another hallway, but a panel on one of the walls was dripping down itself: pooling the melted slag on the floor. From the hole bore into it, electricity arced across the hallway: striking the wall opposite thousands of times before Brainz could even  _ blink.  _ Sparks were jettisoned and collided with every surface. He couldn’t pass: he  **_HAD_ ** to pass, there was  _ no  _ other way. The electricity wanted the metal  _ wall _ not  **_HIM._ ** Down to the floor he went, as low as he could go: the sparks rained down upon him as he dragged himself under the machinegun of lethal current. 

There was a surge of heat on his back, it grew bigger when he got up and ran. His cloak had caught fire, the world  _ wanted  _ him to stop and put it out:  _ that’s  _ how it’d get him! The shotgun was lifted from his back and the smoking cloak was thrown to the floor without Brainz so much as slowing down. The sound of something massive giving in and crashing into pieces from behind only assured him he made a good call.

 

He only glanced behind within the lapse of policy not to look back: he turned back to the front and got to witness a wall of blinding light careening for him. All Brainz could do was brace for whatever it would inflict upon him.

* * *

 

Brainz emerged from the light completely unscathed but yelling like he was being eaten alive.

**_“WHOA!_ ** _ What the-  _ WHAT  _ WAS  _ THAT?!”   
The only  _ right  _ feeling was the dire need to  _ run _ , he couldn’t stop no matter how badly he wanted to. He felt the acute disorientation rising from his stomach but he couldn’t let that stop him: there was no time to comprehend what happened because Brainz was coming up on an intersection. The right turn was on  _ fire,  _ it left him with only two choices.

“ _ Uhhh.  _ LEFT!”

Brainz turned left and fell into another void of light. 

* * *

 

The light found and stuck to him, there was nothing he could do to get it off now: all he could do was run. Suspect Omega emerged from his wrecked vehicle and sprinted into the trees. He’d nothing except his MAC-10 and his Colt Commander in his swinging arms: his tools of malice. There wasn’t enough time to rescue his backpack from the trunk, he had to wing it. He was all too sure of the incoming dangers following that damn light, but the sound of barking took him by surprise. He turned his head to see the pack of snarling horrors coming at him, what was he going to do _now?_ For all he was concerned, he was _FUCKED._ He went with using his tools out of desperation and began firing the weapons madly at the gaining canines, he couldn’t see the root protruding from the ground in front of him and it ended his momentum in a painful tumble. The light forced its way into his eyes, blinding him just as he felt the teeth tearing into every one of his limbs. The wall of blinding dove from the trees and swallowed him whole, it finally happened-

* * *

  
  


Brainz emerged from the light completely unscathed but yelling like he was being eaten alive.

**_“WHOA!_ ** _ What the-  _ WHAT  _ WAS  _ THAT?!”   
The only  _ right  _ feeling was the dire need to  _ run _ , he couldn’t stop no matter how badly he wanted to. He felt the acute disorientation rising from his stomach but he couldn’t let that stop him: there was no time to comprehend what happened because Brainz was coming up on an intersection. The right turn was on  _ fire,  _ it left him with only two choices.

“ _ Uhhh.  _ LEFT!”

Brainz turned left and fell into another void of light. 

* * *

 

Brainz emerged from the light completely unscathed but yelling like he was being eaten alive.

**_“WHOA!_ ** _ What the-  _ WHAT  _ WAS  _ THAT?!”

The only  _ right  _ feeling was the dire need to  _ run _ , he couldn’t stop no matter how badly he wanted to. He felt the acute disorientation rising from his stomach but he couldn’t let that stop him: there was no time to comprehend what happened because Brainz was coming up on an intersection. The right turn was on  _ fire,  _ it left him with only two choices.

“ _ Uhhh.  _ LEFT!”

Brainz turned left and fell into another void of light. 

* * *

 

“I think I’m going straight this time!”

He ran through a corridor where the metal walls were peeling down like wallpaper.  _ Another  _ fourway was coming up along with the symphony of gunfire coming into earshot. He made out a small congregation of bodies laying in the middle of the intersection.

“ _ Great.  _ **_GREAT!!!”_ **

He  _ just  _ made out the hearts suspended over the dead soldiers when he saw what looked like a fleet of  **crucifixes?** shooting across the way. Then from the other side, a  _ massive  _ hail of gunfire was returned, dust  _ exploded  _ from out the left turn but the gunfire wouldn’t cease. Brainz had to stop, he couldn’t walk between the two sides… and… the bodies: he could see red  _ wires  _ strung between them. What, were they rigged to-

 

 

A gruff shout boomed from the source of the bullets.

“BRACE YOURSELVES. PULSE  _ INCOMING!!!”  _

 

_ What?  _

 

  
  


The squad came in this goddamn deathtrap as  _ Twelve.  _ Now they were down to  _ eight.  _ Seven men, one woman: desperately hiding behind a barricade made of metal panels and loose debris as hell itself tried to brute force its way to them. Only two meters in front of them were their downed brothers,  _ nobody  _ would help them. 

“ _ Sarge!  _ We can  _ bring  _ them over the barricade! We  **_HAVE_ ** to try!” 

 

Private Montsyunic turned his head away from the monsters trying to advance on them: a shrinking snake made of 7.62 rounds slithered through his open hands into the light machine gun pummeling a duo of deformed looking frogs. The sergeant shot him with such a look that almost turned his blood to ice. 

“There  _ is  _ NO SAVING THEM!  _ LOOK  _ at the  _ HEARTS!  _ They’re GONE,  _ private!  _ They’re nothing but fucking  _ liabilities.  _ **_KEEP THEM AWAY FROM THE FUCKING BODIES!!!”_ **

 

“ _ SERGEANT LOMPHETTS!  _ LOOK! IT’S COMING BACK!”

 

Lomphetts looked up from the private feeding the machine gun, down the bridge just across from their stand. The  **_‘FUGLY’_ ** had reared its heads again and was shambling towards them. The M240b and its smaller siblings began spitting lead at the thing, Lomphetts waved an open hand right away.

“ _ HOLD  _ your fire! Everyone,  _ HO-OLD  _ your  **_FIRE!!”_ ** ****__  
  


They obeyed, and the fugly was no longer being hindered by lead and continued to come towards them. The sergeant nodded and held his arms out.

“That’s it, let it come. A little  _ more!” _

 

Brainz had finally gotten a good look at the ‘fugly’ when it entered the center: that’s not what he knew them as…  He recognized the overalls, and that braided hair protruding from one side of it. They looked like they were melting candles that had been congealed together into this shambling abomination. Everything running through him froze: a mortified whisper escape the lock up.

“Bratty. Catty- W-what happened to you guys?” 

The thing took its combined attention off the SOULs floating above the bodies: as if over the alarms and chaos it could hear and recognize Brainz. For just a heartbeat, they exchanged stares: fear, resentment, confusion. It lost all focus and began to deform, like a picture losing its quality and blurring to obscurity.

 

“ **_NOW!!”_ **

The sergeant’s voice boomed through the halls, the center of it was directed to the man holding the switch in his hand. There was hesitation, utter reluctance shown in his trembling hands and pupils.

“I-I  _ can’t!  _ Those are our  _ brothers!-” _

 

Lomphetts clasped his hands around the soldier’s without so much as another word and forced the trigger down. The hallway was consumed in a sudden cloud of  _ red.  _ Everything was gone, nothing but red dust and red smoke billowing in every direction, carried by a  **_*BOOM*_ ** that shook the ground. Nobody would get dwell on what just happened: Lomphetts immediately yelled once again. 

“ **_PUULSE! STAY DOWN!”_ **

Here it came, the speeding wall of light! It passed through and erased everything away, Brainz was still frozen from shock to even brace for it. It came, took him and-

* * *

  
  


Brainz was surrounded by trees singing the songs of crickets, the moon bathed the county road with its omnipresent glow and the stars gave depth to the endless sky above. He gasped at the world around him, winded remarks.

“ _ What the fuck?  _ I’m  **outside???** Where  _ am  _ I??” 

 

-“It’s  _ HIM!”  _

 

“ _ What-the?!”  _

 

He wasn’t alone, he was basking in the utter discombobulation alongside a trio of men who wore the American flag on their shoulders. That wasn’t all: it suddenly became extremely relevant that he was without his inventory and was completely unarmed, the same applied to the soldiers. The severe confusion didn’t seem to take priority over how much they wanted Brainz dead. They leapt on him immediately, sending a flurry of blows, stomps, and a choke hold on him. 

A wall of light spawned from the horizon down the road, it rushed for them like a bat out of hell. They didn’t even take mind to it until it  _ doubled  _ in presence and emitted a brash tone. The soldiers yelled in shock and bailed from the lynch mob on Brainz, the vehicle suddenly veered away from hitting him: the tires  _ SCREECHED  _ in agony and a loud  **_*CRASH*_ ** was heard before the second wall of light swooped in and took everything. 

 

* * *

  
  


Brainz felt the cold wrapping around his entire being, the world beyond the pool of water was muffled from perception. His lungs  _ screamed  _ for oxygen, he began swimming straight up in a desperate bid to find the surface. It was completely black, he couldn’t see  _ anything:  _ it was all going to be for nothing-  _ WAIT,  _ he saw something! It looked like a pair of red dots staring down at him from the brink of the pool! He was closer to the surface that he thought! They suddenly vanished… but he’d have to address that AFTER  he avoided drowning! He kicked his feet as hard as he could and could see the light coming closer to him, he was  _ almost  _ there, so close he could  _ touch it _ -

* * *

  
  


Back into the scientific hellscape, welcomed by the alarms and strobing lights: the tremors and destructive noises that assured doom was coming soon. 

 

“Sarge! They’re  _ gone!  _ We lost three men! It  _ TOOK  _ them!”

“Cappyro’s gone! His shit’s all on the  _ floor!” _

“What the  **_FUCK_ ** are we supposed to do now,  **_SIR?!”_ **

 

Lomphetts couldn’t answer his men, he was vomiting uncontrollably. In all the hysteria, nobody seemed to notice the dripping wet figure lurking away from behind them. 

 

Brainz had slowed his run for life to a hurried stagger, the nausea and physical exhaustion were excruciating. He wasn’t even sure if the brief beating carried over or if his things were back, his hands were still holding something heavy in each: so one of those things had to be true at least.

The soldiers were blocking this way off:  _ maybe  _ because it  lead to something valuable: like the fucking way out of here. He just had to keep moving and hope nobody would turn around, or reality would twist itself again. 

 

The path ahead contorted into coil that wrapped around itself an infinite number of times, the corridor adopted the property of a giant curly fry. There was no telling what was real anymore but he could traverse it: then he was good to go. Below (and above), something emitted a light so bright that it’d liquidate his retinas if he even looked over the edge. 

“It’s fine, I can deal with this- just no more mind fucking.”   
  


Brainz had  _ just  _ gotten out of the ‘curly fry’ room when he saw the area ahead getting all  _ bright  _ and  _ ‘eye-hurting’  _ again. 

“Ohh  _ noo,  _ not  **_again!”_ **

* * *

  
  


“ _ Huh?”  _

He looked and patted himself, nothing was different about him and he was still standing in electrical and spontaneously exploding hell.

“It didn’t  _ do _ anything this time, or did it… what was that?”

 

The distinct sound of footsteps echoing off an empty intersection, somehow audible over everything. 

“Of * **_course*.”_ **

 

He struggled to ready his gun, still having to sling one over his shoulder. Brainz barely pointed his rifle down the right way when he distinguished the patter of bare feet as part of the sounds… Then he saw the shapes emerging from the left and turning straight in front of him. They were half the size he was, they looked like  _ kids. _

(The gun’s safety was switched on and his finger jumped outside the trigger guard immediately: that gun was swung away from them faster than he could even say without his breath)

“ _ Kids?  _ **_Kids?!”_ **

 

There were two of them, and they just ran after each other and vanished at the end of the hallway. Brainz ran for them as fast as he could, following the sound of their little steps and oblivious giggles that trailed behind them. The CORE continued to fall apart around him and he invested littler and littler attention to it over the inexplicable children. 

“ **_WAIT!_ ** What’re you  _ doing  _ in here?!” 

He had an overwhelming sense of deja vu, he could’ve sworn he’d seen them: recognizing only the striped sweaters they were wearing but never getting anything more than a glimpse to catch any other details. 

 

Brainz rebounded off corners, vaulted over piles of debris, and through fountains of sparks without so much as thinking twice. But no matter what he did, he could never get any closer to catching up to them. He was always  _ just  _ catching them disappear around  _ another  _ corner or through  _ another  _ careening pulse about to hit him.

“ _ NO.  _ WAIT-” 

* * *

 

“ **_NO_ ** **NO-NO NO NO** **_NO-_ ** _ NO  _ No- nh… huh? I’m  _ outside  _ again?” 

The abject panic subsided, he was still standing and was still  _ himself _ : guns, inventory and all. The ear splitting chorus of alarms and eye hurting strobe lights was traded for the sound of birds singing and the gleam of sunlight. 

“I thought it was  _ night…” _

His eyes couldn’t squint any further, yet something caught them. A decorative inscription standing beside him. 

“(What this)  **_Ebott’s. Wake…_ ** what? It’s supposed to be ‘ **Ebbot** **_Valley_ ** **_’,_ ** what fuck’n moron didn’t get the-”

 

He discovered that there were more  _ compulsive  _ things than the sign to gawk at. The town just ten steps or so away from him. There were  _ people  _ walking up and down the sidewalks. People… and  **_monsters_ ** … at the  _ same  _ time, on the  _ SURFACE.  _

“What… The- _ Ffff- _ **_uck??”_ **   
  


Brainz’s entire body locked up:he was nothing but a bug-eyed, dust and blood covered, gun wielding statue standing in the middle of the road and nobody spared him so much as a look before the white flash came and took him back to where he belonged.

* * *

 

Back to the familiar song of sirens and explosions rocking the world: it was almost  _ comforting  _ in comparison.

 

“ **_AAAAAAAUUUUGGGGGGggggg_ ** **-** **_GHUHH…_ ** ”

_ There  _ it was. He wasn’t so much nonplussed as just delayed in the appropriate response to what he saw. When the disorientation ebbed enough: he returned to running, albeit very clumsily.

“What’m I supposed to do with what I just **_SAW?_** Am I just supposed to _forget about THAT?_ ** _Oh, OK!”_**

The noises he made following that were nothing short of inscrutable. 

Well, the kids were nowhere to be found. In fact, Brainz hadn’t even been spat out in the same place he vanished from, the red strobes of alarm lights were now just a constant red  _ tint  _ that soaked everything he could see. There were so many more pieces missing from the rooms he stumbled through. Flat out  **_chunks_ ** of floor, wall, and ceiling were just  _ gone,  _ like somebody had taken a pair of scissors and just cut them out of existence. There was nothing but…  **_‘nothing’_ ** beyond them, a white void that shared the same luminescence as the rampant distortions befalling everyone inside the CORE. Brainz couldn’t get it out of his head that touching them would be the worst idea anybody would have in all of existence, he took great strides  _ NOT  _ to touch them but that was becoming increasingly difficult. 

**_CORE, CORE: EXTREME DANGER!!!_ **  
  


The warning sign was suspended where a wall  _ should’ve  _ been, the corridor became nothing but a bridge at this point. Oblivion utterly surrounded Brainz.

“I  _ think  _ I’m going the  **_wrong way:_ ** I don’t remember  _ this  _ part!” 

 

He had every reason to turn around and bail but no chance to do so because when he turned around:  **the world behind him was** **_gone._ **

 

“Ohh  _ fuck  _ **_meeeeeEEEE!!!!”_ **

After the outburst, he had no choice but to proceed: down the bridge suspended over spreading nothingness. To wherever it wanted to take him, anywhere but where he needed to go. The long walk ultimately lead to a massive door standing by its lonesome blocking the path. The make and reinforcement of it hinted that it could survive a nuclear blast from five feet away. A final inscription done in red was displayed over it.

 

**_CORE, TRUE CORE:_ ** **_EXTREME_ ** **_EXTREME DANGER._ **

 

There wasn’t such a thing as an extant reason to doubt the claim, there also wasn’t anywhere else he could  _ go.  _ Walking into the core of something melting down and warping the very fabric of reality really wasn’t the smart thing to do: neither was trying to brute force the door containing it. The path trembled a roar was heard, a flash of white phased from the door and passed over Brainz. He was still here and still himself, it wasn’t  _ him  _ that it affected but the door itself looked like it was composed of transparent plastic. Brainz couldn’t lay a hand on it anymore,  **_it had become completely intangible._ ** Inside he went…

 

**_“Ohhh. My._ ** **_GOD…”_ **

 

[🕆︎■︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♓︎■︎♏︎♎︎□︎⬧︎⧫︎⧫︎❒︎♋︎♍︎🙵♓︎■︎⬧︎♏︎❒︎⧫︎](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyX1O6lpVlE)

 

A metal catwalk stretched into the center of the cylindrical chamber, it was like being inside of a nuclear cooling tower. The walls were lined with arcs of electricity infinitely spanning the vertical length of the room:  _ millions  _ of them surrounding the entire chamber. The sound was unlike anything he’d ever heard. They all came from below. Below, where the ultimate CORE lay in agony, existing outside of the comparatively narrow boundaries of human comprehension. Impossible to grasp, an objective paradox that couldn’t be truly seen by his limited perception. More than one man should ever bear to witness.

 

The chamber rumbled and the light of million stars shot up from the bottom and the shockwave ran to cover every last inch of the underground. 

 

* * *

  
  


✂︎⧫︎♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ♓︎⬧︎ ⬥︎♒︎♏︎❒︎♏︎ ♓︎⧫︎ ♋︎●︎●︎ ♓︎⬧︎📬︎✂︎

⧫︎♒︎□︎◆︎♑︎♒︎⧫︎ ♌︎❒︎♋︎♓︎■︎⌘︎

 

♒︎♏︎ ⬥︎♋︎⬧︎ ⧫︎❒︎♋︎■︎⬧︎♐︎♓︎⌧︎♏︎♎︎📪︎ ♍︎□︎❍︎◻︎●︎♏︎⧫︎♏︎●︎⍓︎ ♓︎❒︎❒︎♏︎●︎♏︎❖︎♋︎■︎⧫︎ ⧫︎□︎ ❒︎♏︎♋︎⬧︎□︎■︎ □︎❒︎ ♏︎⌧︎◻︎●︎♋︎■︎♋︎⧫︎♓︎□︎■︎📬︎ ✋︎■︎⬧︎⧫︎♋︎■︎⧫︎●︎⍓︎📪︎ ♐︎♓︎■︎♋︎●︎●︎⍓︎ ⬧︎◆︎♌︎❍︎♓︎⬧︎⬧︎♓︎❖︎♏︎ ⧫︎□︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♐︎♋︎⧫︎♏︎ ◻︎❒︎♏︎⬧︎♏︎■︎⧫︎♏︎♎︎ ♌︎♏︎♐︎□︎❒︎♏︎ ♒︎♓︎❍︎📬︎ ☟︎♏︎ ●︎♏︎⧫︎ ♓︎⧫︎ ♎︎♏︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎❍︎♓︎■︎♏︎ ♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ❍︎□︎❖︎♏︎❍︎♏︎■︎⧫︎⬧︎📪︎ ♐︎♏︎♏︎●︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♋︎❒︎♍︎♋︎■︎♏︎ ♏︎■︎♏︎❒︎♑︎⍓︎ ♍︎□︎♏︎❒︎♍︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ◻︎❒︎♏︎⬧︎♏︎■︎⧫︎ ♋︎■︎♎︎ ❍︎♋︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎♓︎♋︎●︎♓︎⌘︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♐︎◆︎⧫︎◆︎❒︎♏︎ ♌︎♏︎♐︎□︎❒︎♏︎ ♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ❖︎♏︎❒︎⍓︎ ⬧︎□︎◆︎●︎📬︎ 

♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ●︎♏︎♑︎⬧︎ ❍︎□︎❖︎♏︎♎︎📪︎ ♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ♌︎□︎♎︎⍓︎ ⬥︎♋︎●︎🙵♏︎♎︎🖳︎ ♓︎⧫︎ ♑︎◆︎♓︎♎︎♏︎♎︎ ♒︎♓︎❍︎📬︎ 👍︎●︎□︎⬧︎♏︎❒︎ ♋︎■︎♎︎ ♍︎●︎□︎⬧︎♏︎❒︎ ⧫︎□︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ⬥︎♓︎●︎●︎ □︎♐︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ◆︎■︎♓︎❖︎♏︎❒︎⬧︎♏︎📪︎ ♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ♒︎♋︎■︎♎︎⬧︎ ♍︎●︎♋︎❍︎♌︎♏︎❒︎♏︎♎︎ □︎■︎⧫︎□︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ❒︎♋︎♓︎●︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ♋︎■︎♎︎ ♒︎♏︎ ♒︎□︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎♏︎♎︎ ♒︎♓︎❍︎⬧︎♏︎●︎♐︎ □︎■︎⧫︎□︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ◻︎❒︎♏︎♍︎♋︎❒︎♓︎□︎◆︎⬧︎ ⧫︎♒︎♓︎■︎♑︎📬︎

⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♍︎□︎❒︎♏︎ ♋︎■︎⬧︎⬥︎♏︎❒︎♏︎♎︎ ♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ◻︎❒︎♏︎⬧︎♏︎■︎♍︎♏︎ ⬥︎♓︎⧫︎♒︎ ♋︎■︎□︎⧫︎♒︎♏︎❒︎ ◻︎◆︎●︎⬧︎♏︎📬︎

* * *

  
  


His balance was gone.

 

He fell… 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**26:12:49**

**26:12:52**

**🖲︎🖲︎🖳︎🗏︎📁︎🖳︎📂︎📄︎**

**🖲︎📄︎📁︎🖳︎🗐︎🗄︎🖳︎🗄︎⌛︎**

**_8764:05:00_ **

**_32349:25:23_ **

**_⌛︎🖲︎🖲︎🖲︎🖲︎🖳︎📂︎🖮︎🖳︎🗐︎🖮︎_ **

**_⌛︎🖲︎🖲︎🖲︎🖲︎🖳︎📂︎🖮︎🖳︎🗐︎⌛︎_ **

**_⌛︎🖲︎🖲︎🖲︎🖲︎🖳︎📂︎🖮︎🖳︎🗐︎🗄︎_ **

**_📬︎📬︎📬︎_ **

****__  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  


. 

  
  
  



	27. 📄︎📫︎📄︎🖮︎🖳︎ ♓︎■︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎◆︎◻︎⧫︎♓︎□︎■︎

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ✋ ♍♋■🕯⧫ ♌♏●♓♏❖♏ ⧫♒♓⬧📬📬📬 ☟♏🕯⬧ ♒♏❒♏📪 ●♓&♏ ✌👍❄🕆✌☹☹✡ ♒♏❒♏📬,  
> ❄♒♓⬧ ♑□♏⬧ ♌♏⍓□■♎ 🕯◆■p❒♏♍♏♎♏■⧫♏♎🕯 ✋ ⧫♒♓■& ✋ ♋❍ ♋♍⧫◆♋●●⍓ ⧫♏❒❒♓♐♓♏♎ □♐ ⬥♒♋⧫ ♍□◆●♎ p□⬧⬧♓♌●⍓ ♌♏♍□❍♏ □♐ ⧫♒♓⬧📬.
> 
> ☞□❒ ⧫♒♏ ●□❖♏ □♐ ♑□♎📬📬📬  
> 👌❒♋♓■⌘📪 p●♏♋⬧♏ ♎□■🕯⧫ ♐♓■♎ ♋ ⬥♋⍓ ⧫□ ♌❒♏♋& ❍⍓ ♍□❒♏ ♏❖♏■ ♐◆❒⧫♒♏❒📬📬📬

“So here I was, right?, on this dingy little catwalk: standing over the _goddamned_ center of the earth or something. And the little fuckerys its been doin? Decides to gimme _one more:_ point blank to my face. Just _WHOOSH.”_

 

The reenactment garnered some anxiety, a couple of mild surprises and some nervous chuckling from the group. Brainz himself snorted at something and reeled himself back.

“Buy _hey-hey-hey,_ s’alright! They built this place to be a fuck’n death trap, but **_safety first!_ ** That’s what the **_guardrails_ ** are for! ‘SAVEed’ my dumb ass!”

 

The table erupted into laughter, drinks in various bottles rattled and swished as fists slammed onto the hardwood surface. Brainz rescued his ‘still in progress’ bottle and took a swig of the room temperature beer. He added a much more reserved and casual kind of laugh. Across the table from him came a question following the humor.

“So like, what even _happened_ to you? How’d you get outta there?”

 

Brainz started to answer but found himself blanking and unable to say much.

“I- _Ayeunnoh_ actually… _Hmn._ Huh. You’d think this would be an easy one-”

 

Another sip, finishing the drink, he followed the little grimace with a digression to clear the topic. 

“I’ll tell ya-what though. Worst thing about that place? Not the freaks, the traps? _Nah._ Fuck’n goat lady. She _really_ knew how to screw me over in the end, I’ll tell ya what. Convinced me that I not only may have _actually_ had a future, but that it’d be with _her_ and not by my lonesome.”

Brainz swished the miniscule bit of alcohol still sitting at the bottom of the bottle and croaked with a laugh, it wasn’t very funny though: nobody else thought it was at least. He raised his bottle up.

“Here’s to you, Toriel. Ya fuck’n barnyard scum. Hope that bullet in yer head weighs you down a tier or two in hell.”

 

Alright: he earned a scant amount of humored sounds. 

“Aight guys, it’s gettin late for me. I’ma be headin home-”

 

He stood up, grabbed his purple trench coat from the back of his chair and slipped into it, Brainz reached into one of the pockets and brought a ten to the table for his alcohol.

“-maybe next time I’ll tell ya about _Undyne.”_

 

-“ _Who?”_

His head cocked with a grin on it.

“ _X’actly:_ I see you guys later.” 

 

The shaded door shut behind him, closing off the outside world.

 

“Hoh, _man_ it got cold.”

Brainz was met upright with a windchill, he made sure he was buttoned up tight before moving out from under the faded awning of his favorite bar. He was outside of the jurisdiction of the “No Smoking” sign posted on the door and lit himself up before being on his way. 

 

He had the entire city street to himself: no cars parked up and down ticking the parking meters off, people pulling up their collars to combat the cold, not even the rumble from a train passing through the bridge that ran above. For his matter, no cabs for him to hail. Brainz sighed modestly.

“Hehh, guess I’m walkin home tonight: s’fine though: only a dozen blocks away.” 

 

[Alone in the town](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxt-aF4fqLE)

 

 

It looked like the cold came in with a friend, there was a fair density of low fog shrouding the city, Brainz could only see down the length of one block at a time. Everything had this ‘grayish’ desaturated tint to it, even the sky that he could see through the gaps in the train bridge was nothing but gray clouds.

 

He had to admit, it gave his walk a bit of an eerie vibe, especially with the lack of people going around. Smoke dissipated from his nostrils.

“Where is everyone? I know it’s _crappy_ n’ late out but-”

 

He checked his watch and was treated to a little realization.

“- Oh _damn._ Didn’t realize it was _that_ late, they really gotta fix the clock in there.”

 

Some steps later, Brainz began to hear a set of steps that didn’t belong to him: it was hard not to look especially when they were coming up behind him and in a damn hurry.

“Oh. _Great…”_

 

Of all the people to come running up to him, it just _had_ to be Byran Rantz… 

“Brainz. Brainz! Wait!”

A low and begrudged sigh as he stopped in his place.

“What does he want now?”

 

Brainz turned around to face the man. His thoughts never lay dormant.

‘This guys _always_ got a problem and it’s always _my_ problem apparently…  Is he even _capable_ of leaving me alone for once? I guess not, look at him: always acting like the world’s about to end, and they call _ME_ ‘Jumpy’. They obviously haven’t had the pleasure of knowing _this_ guy, like I’d inflict that on em.”

 

His greeting was flat and tried a bit hard to show Brainz’s disdain.

“Hello Byran…”

Brainz removed the spent cigarette from his lips and snuffed it out on the sidewalk with his boot. 

 

Byran Rantz was like a toy that had been wound up one too many times, he was just out of breath and spoke so fast that your brain would fill in the gaps for what he was trying to say most of the time. 

“Brainz. _There_ you are! I’ve been trying to get to you, where have you _been?”_

 

‘Of _course_ he’s been looking for me, what else does he do with his offtime?’ 

-“I was just having a _drink…_ What’s wrong **_this_ ** time?”

 

“It’s- _hold on a second, I’m sorry.”_

Byran bent over and caught his breath, so he wouldn’t sound _as_ frantic.

“ _OK._ You know Rosemary?” 

 

Brainz sneered and crossed his arms, irritated and a tad bit indignant. 

“Of _course_ I know her, why would you even think I _wouldn’t?_ I’ve known her as long as _you_ have.”

 

Byran nodded nervously.

“ _Ok,_ just making sure. I uh- she’s missing, Brainz: I- I can’t find her _anywhere.”_

 

A brow rose up and Brainz’s arms remained crossed. 

“ _Okay?_ I’m sure she’s just-”

 

-“ _No!”_

The interruption uncrossed Brainz’s arms, Byran nearly recoiled from his own intrusiveness, but he repeated himself afterwards despite the look he got.

“No.”

 

Brainz reiterated his apparent disinterest. 

“ _Oh-kaay?_ How does this affect me?”

 

-“I _need_ you to help me look for her!”

 

‘ _There it is.’_

“Dude, Come on, not _now._ I was just on my way home, I’m cold, I’m _tired._ Can’t you wander around all night, _yourself?”_

 

 _That_ was a mistake, anytime he said anything but ‘yes’ to this guy, it always ended in a temper tantrum: this time was no different, Byran hopped up in volume and pitch,

“You _KNOW_ I can’t! Come _on!_ Can’t you do this one _damn_ thing for me??” 

 

The irritation reached a spillover point for Brainz as well, he felt his own temper jostling and shaking, just trying to get loose.

“That’s all I _do_ is things for you! That’s all I _ever_ do! Why do _I_ have to care about _Rose_ of all people? What’s she ever done for _me?_ For **_you?_ ** For all that matters.” 

 

One of Byran’s arms dislodged from his coat pockets and began throwing itself around.

“ _Brainz!_ This city is _full_ of monsters! How can you sit there and be that _selfish??”_

 

Brainz went quiet, Byran had a habit of making him feel bad about himself. The guy was _always_ right about everything he started about Brainz. Brainz could never think for himself without getting _some_ kind of lecture that hit where it hurt. If Byran was smaller, he’d be a perfect fit for that nagging conscience that rides your shoulder, and if Brainz had a smaller _doppelganger_ of himself? He’d go on the other shoulder.

 

Byran didn’t stop his little tangent even at the sigh.

“Besides, you _owe_ me and you _know_ you do. Especially after what happened with-”

 

“ _Alright_ already! Alright! I’ll _look_ for her-”

He moved in to make the guilt trip stop, Byran already won anyway. Anything from this point on was just rubbing it in. 

“- just _don't_  expect a _guarantee_ I’ll even **_find_ ** her!” 

 

Byran seemed content if not still terrible anxious. 

“ _Thank you…”_

 

Brainz was enthusiastic to leave and portrayed as so by being rather _un_ -enthusiastic.

“I guess I better get. **_Going_ ** then… I’m gonna start around the neighborhood. I gotta make a stop at home _anyway._ ”

 

“Wait! One more thing.”

“ _Huooh_ my god. **_What?”_ **

 

Byran delved into his hoodie and pulled out a bundled up cloth, he opened it up between him and Brainz and revealed the contents. There was a gun in there, some kind of glock.

“Here, I want you to take this.”

 

Brainz accepted the gift without hesitation or question but gave Byran a mildly surprised look. Byran justified himself.

“Like I said, it’s dangerous out here. You gotta protect yourself.”

 

-“But what about _you?_ Don’t you need it?”

 

Byran shook his head willfully.

“No. I’d hesitate too much, you know me. I know _you_ won’t… You’ll use it much better than I have.” 

 

“Uh, _thanks..._ ” 

 

A finger pointed at Brainz and shook assertively, Byran started walking away.

“You be careful, man: don’t trust any _body_ or any _thing…”_

...

  
“God- _dammit_ Byran…”

Brainz had walked three blocks by his lonesome, the handgun was a block of ice inside his coat and he felt it bumping into him.

“You’re gonna get me in trouble, _again._ You always getting me in trouble.”

 

The gun wasn’t the only thing given to Brainz, a sense of paranoia was inherited with the weapon. It made the unusual fog and the even more so emptiness much more unsettling. He felt like he was being watched from beyond the fog and in every abandoned looking storefront and dark window. The paranoia reached its peak when he once again heard footsteps that didn’t belong to him and felt the instinct to reach for the gun. He could scoff at himself later for being so _jumpy:_ right now though, he wasn’t feeling all too assured as they grew closer.

“Byran?” 

 

He called out, but he knew that wouldn’t make sense as the sounds were coming from in front of him. In the end though, Brainz just shook his head strongly and rubbed his tired eyes.

 _‘Dude, relax._ It’s just some other schleb dumb enough to go for a walk at this time, am I gonna fuckin _shoot_ em for that?”

 

The source of the steps came into vision, a silhouette emerging from the fog… in the middle of the street. Brainz usually kept to his own business, but this fog was just trying to cause something unsightly.

“Hey _buddy!_ You should try the _sidewalk!_ A lot less chance of being hit by a blind driver in all this fog!" 

 

The person stopped suddenly, but then began making for the sidewalk where Brainz was. As it came closer though, Brainz got a good look at the ‘person’. 

“What the fuck?” 

It wasn’t a person, it didn’t even come close to _resembling_ a person. This thing with its bones bare and melded together, a pair of white heads with glowing eyes. It got a look at Brainz and geared up: full on shambling towards him… white paste dripped from its cavities and onto the road. 

 

“Alright, _back_ the _fuck_ up, freakshow! You go back to waiting to get flattened by a car! Just stay the fuck  _away_ from me!"

 

No acknowledgement of his words or the warning he gave it. It just came closer, making these unearthly noises: guttural groaning and _laughing?_ Brainz pulled the gun from his coat and fumbled with the safety… 

**_*BLAM!!*_ **

**_…_ **

**_*BLAM!!* *BLAM!!*_ **

 

The thing fell and crumpled on the ground. What did Brainz just _shoot?_ He walked up to it. It was nothing but _bones…_ bones from multiple skeletons fused together into this amalgamation. Wearing some kind of insulated coat on one body and a long tattered cape on the other. He felt a strong sensation of  Déjà vu, that he’d recognize this thing as seperate people. It wasn’t _dead_ though and suddenly spasmed and writhed around the ground violently. Like a wounded insect before the gargantuan foot came down. Brainz (with a panicked yelp and an unprepared gun) brought his foot down onto one of the heads. He stomped it until it shattered like porcelain on the street, paste burst from inside it and splattered up his leg. The second head went down in four stomps and the creature crumpled up like a spider and went still. 

 

So now he took a moment to compose himself and catch his breath, backing away from the thing. He was done messing with it.

“OK... Something is _definitely_ wrong around here. _What_ the fuck did I just kill? At least… I _think_ I killed it… I’m not gonna stick around to find that out. I gotta get home and on the double.”

The gun never returned to his pocket, it stayed in his hand for the rest of the night.

“So Byran was _right!_ That’s a first! Rosemary actually _could_ be in danger, I actually _really_ need to get home.”

 

Brainz hadn’t even crossed the street before he saw another deformed looking thing coming out of the fog. A gigantic, disembodied head: mouth like a pyrana that took up half of its size. It slid towards him without fail. The gaping maw chomped at him, it yelled this incoherent nightmare babble.

" _Oh_ you gotta be kidding me." 

 

"✌︎■︎ ♓︎■︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎●︎□︎◻︎♏︎❒︎✍︎

♓︎ ♍︎♋︎■︎■︎□︎⧫︎ ♐︎♓︎■︎♎︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ♏︎❖︎♏︎❒︎⍓︎⬥︎♒︎♏︎❒︎♏︎📪︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ♍︎♋︎■︎■︎□︎⧫︎ ♌︎♏︎📫︎"

 

**_*BLAM*_ **

Brainz waited for it to draw near and put a bullet into its small eye. It screeched, red spurted from the hole in its head and spread like a growing stain all over its being. 

 

**_“You exist as one, you are not with this place. You can still LEAVE.”_ **

The noises it made became understandable in the midst of its screeches and groans. Brainz wasn’t going to let it corrupt him.

**_*WHAP*_ **

 

With it blinded, Brainz spared his limited ammunition by cracking it in its head with the butt of his pistol. It fell over and shuddered. Brainz set to finish it off with a powerful stomp right into the fountain of red. It splattered everywhere. When he was finished, he looked all around him.

“Any _more_ of you ugly freaks?! Come on! I can take ya!”

He spoke of the devil… or maybe it was from the really loud gunfire that echoed down the street: they came. Coming from the intersecting road: emerging from the fog. A couple, a handful, a _dozen, twenty, fifty,_ **_a hundred._ ** They were coming from behind him too! 

 

"☹︎♏︎♋︎❖︎♏︎ ⬥︎♒︎♓︎●︎♏︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ⬧︎⧫︎♓︎●︎●︎ ♍︎♋︎■︎"

"✋︎■︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎●︎□︎◻︎♏︎❒︎📪︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ♋︎❒︎♏︎ ♌︎❒︎♓︎■︎♑︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⧫︎♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ⬥︎□︎❒︎●︎♎︎ ♓︎■︎⧫︎□︎ ♏︎⌧︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎♏︎■︎♍︎♏︎📬︎"

"🕈︎♏︎ ♋︎❒︎♏︎ ♏︎❖︎♏︎❒︎⍓︎⬥︎♒︎♏︎❒︎♏︎📪︎ ♌︎◆︎⧫︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ♋︎❒︎♏︎ □︎■︎●︎⍓︎ ♒︎♏︎❒︎♏︎✍︎ "

"⍓︎□︎◆︎🕯︎❒︎♏︎ ⬧︎⧫︎♓︎●︎●︎ ⬥︎♒︎□︎●︎♏︎📬︎"

"☟︎♏︎ ♓︎⬧︎ ⬧︎⧫︎♓︎●︎●︎ ⬧︎♓︎■︎♑︎◆︎●︎♋︎❒︎📪︎ ♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ❒︎♓︎◻︎◻︎●︎♏︎⬧︎ ♍︎□︎❍︎◻︎●︎♏︎⧫︎♏︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♍︎♓︎❒︎♍︎●︎♏︎ ♋︎■︎♎︎ ♐︎♓︎●︎●︎ □︎■︎●︎⍓︎ □︎■︎♏︎ ◻︎□︎■︎♎︎📬︎"

💧♓■♑◆●♋❒♓⧫⍓ ♎♏⧫♏♍⧫♏♎

* * *

 

“Oh _sshit!”_

 

Too many of them, still a gap in the road ahead. Brainz booked it. He sprinted down the middle of the street until he couldn’t see anything over his shoulder. When he was all but sure he couldn’t be seen by anything, Brainz veered back to the sidewalk and tried the first door of the first building he decided to try to take shelter in. 

 

Some uninspired office space with a big window overlooking the street: it said something about ‘Taking insurance’ on the glass before Brainz dropped the blinds down. He turned the latch on the front door and scurried to the only other door inside to further hide. The secondary door was closed so slowly and the handle turned so slowly that latch inside couldn’t even click as he sealed himself into the darkness inside. 

 

_“Five minutes.”_

He thought.

 _“_ Five _long_ and unbearably anxious minutes trying to listen for them and trying to breathe quieter.” 

 

...  


They actually went faster than he thought, or he thought they did: he didn’t exactly have a way to tell time on his person. (Although he _swore_ he had a watch) The door was opened ever so slightly and slowly, only allowing a sliver of lousy lighting into his room.

 

_Nothing._

 

An almost pitch black office space secluded by closed blinds. It didn’t alleviate any of the stress or unsurity, but it was still a good sight to see. Brainz let himself back into the little lobby and began the motions to peek through a tiny slit in the blinds without disturbing them too much. It was going to be a meticulous task, but that’s the caution he was willing to begrudge all things considered.

 

“ _Hey!”_

 

It came from behind him, soft in volume but harsh on the tone, it _wanted_ him. The fear of being noticed was enough to suppress his surprise to a startled exhale as he spun around. 

 

“Whoa! What’re you _doing??_ It’s me!”

 

That’s what it said when Brainz pointed the gun right at it. A once vacant indoor planter had sprouted a bright yellow flower with a face. It was the most normal thing he’d seen out of the bunch, but it gave him so much apprehension. It was speaking to him and trying to appear passive, that didn’t make it any less anxiety inducing. Brainz asked it while his gun stayed where it was.

“What’re you doing in here?” 

 

-“What’re _you_ doing in here **_actually…_ ** That’s what _I_ want to know. In fact, _HOW_ are you even here? How are you even still _YOU_ still? How’re you _doing_ this?”

 

The flower seemed just as concerned as Brainz, they obviously had different reasons. After the slew of questions that would go unanswered, Flowey squinted at Brainz and sharpened his voice.

“ _Unless…-”_

It took another good look at the man, the shaking weapon in his hand and the bewildered look in his eyes. Disappointment flooded in.

“Ohh _great._ I should’ve _known_ you were going to screw this up, _man…”_

 

Irritation washed onto Brainz’s face, he lowered his gun but pointed his other hand to the flower. He really had no idea or context but he did have his pride.

“ _Hey!_ I don’t even know what yer talking about! I’m only _doing_ this for Byran anyway! If you have a problem, its with _him:_ ok?” 

 

“ _Byran?_ _..._ Who the heck is that?” 

 

More irritation, Brainz couldn’t help but raise his voice in exasperation. Who  _didn't_ know Byran?

“Byran _Rantz!_ Real jumpy guy, always got a hot coal up his ass: gave me this piece. (The gun shook around in an explanatory fashion.) He’s the one making me wade through this shitshow, I don’t even wanna _be_ here.”

 

The flower reeled back, repeating to himself like trying to crack a code.

“Byran Rantz. Rantz… Rantz- _Rantz- Ra-”_

 

Then a gasp and all the vibrant petals on his face slicked back.

“- **Rantz…** Oh my god, of _course...”_

 

That surely didn’t add to any of the confusion, in fact it only brought on a completely new level of not knowing what the hell was going on. The flower suddenly looked back up to Brainz and nearly tripped over his words.

“I- I need to go!” 

 

Brainz could make out sweat drops beading up on the plant’s face before it sunk into the pot and disappeared. 

“Well that was nice… Jesus, just what have you gotten yourself into Byran? And why do I feel like I’m gonna get shoved in the center of it now?”

 

A phlegmatic sigh, but with a little positivity at the end.

“Well, at least I know the coast’s clear, otherwise they woulda heard us and stormed the place.”

He would soon leave the small space, only finding out it was some kind of pharmacy by the invoices collecting dust on the floor. 

“Olanzapine… Well _somebody’s_ missing out on their bipolar meds.”

...

Only four blocks to go, Brainz wasn’t close to walking them: a full on defensive jog where he couldn’t keep his eyes forward for more than a second before looking all around for the freaks.

 

“Ohh, what the hell is _this?”_

It started with colors bleeding into the heavy fog, red and blue strobes, and ended with the line of wooden barricades strung across the road: sidewalk and all. Vacant police vehicles sat behind the initial line, their lights flashing without a sound. There was nobody to answer for it all. 

He _really_ didn’t want to find out the reason for this, but he _had_ to go this way and _anywhere_ would be better than right here in the open where the monsters could find him. Over the blockade he went. 

“Oh, so _that’s_ why they blocked off the road…”

  
There was no more road beyond the blockade, it and seemingly the entire earth beneath it had been ‘cut’ from existence. He couldn’t even see the other side in this damn fog, for all he knew: it could’ve ceased to exist at its own leisure. Brainz saw enough of the chasm and sat down on the hood of a police car, contemplating his next course of action. He wasn’t getting very far with anything, so it wasn’t too much of a setback when he was distracted by voice crackling from inside the vehicle. The scanner inside the dashboard began speaking.

**_[Respond to a 10-80 in West Ebott Valley]_ **

**_[We got a potential 10-101 In- Ebott Valley]_ **

**_[All units in vicinity: Ebott Valley: Investigate reports of gunfire and explosions]_ **

 

“Hey- I know that place. That’s not too far from _here_ : What going on over there? That’s the most boring place in the world: It needed _me_ to actually show up on the news…” 

 

Brainz wanted to check out the huge chasm again, he left the voice to its own volition: speaking to nobody.

**_[11-99! 11-99 Officer needs assistance! Shots fired-]_ **

_💧✋☠☝🕆☹✌☼✋❄✡ 👎☜❄☜👍❄☜👎_

* * *

 

The road ahead was clear, he saw no reason to stay and tune in to the drama unfolding just twenty minutes away when he had his own problems to sort. He really needed to get moving, still twenty blocks left to go. The shotgun in his grip was beginning to tire out his arms, it was nice of Byran to give it to him: but couldn’t he have settled on something a little easier to carry? Or at least a sling to put it over his shoulder? At least it blew that walking _clam_ away, that much Brainz was grateful for. 

 

💧✋☠☝🕆☹✌☼✋❄✡ 👎☜❄☜👍❄☜👎

⚐🕆❄🏱🕆❄ ❄⚐ 👎📄🖲🖲🗄🖮📂📄🗐🗄📄🗏📁🗏🖰🖲🗄

* * *

 

“Goddammit Byran.”

  
The Beretta was nice, but would it have killed him to give Brainz some extra ammunition to go with it? He obviously knew about the freaks patrolling the streets enough to _give_ Brainz a gun. But Brainz could see _more_ of them filling up the path he had to go in and he was already down to five bullets after three encounters gone loud. 

“I guess I’m gonna just have to _run_ for it.”  
That wasn’t as bad of an idea as it initially seemed, none of the freaks seemed to manage anything over a slow shamble and all they wanted to do was to close the distance: perhaps to french him. The group of the freaks had a large gap in the middle of the road, Brainz hunched over and bolted through the crowd. He tried to tune out the cacophony moaning and groaning all around him as he ran, but it became harder as it persisted and the freaks still showed in his peripheral vision. How many of these things _were_ there? They were shoulder to shoulder, filling both sidewalks but not a single one present on the street he occupied. In fact, he could almost _swear_ he could see obscure shapes and figures far up ahead _parting_ from the street as he approached. What were they _doing?_ Was it for _him?_ Nothing made sense, Brainz _had_ to get home before it could get any more bizarre.

He was going to have to stop running eventually. Stopping even while the freaks still paralleled him would be better than continuing until full blown exhaustion. Brainz just wanted to get down to fifteen blocks before he slowed down, one more street to cross and he’d be there: as long as they willfully got out of his way… 

 

💧✋☠☝🕆☹✌☼✋❄✡ 👎☜❄☜👍❄☜👎

⚐🕆❄🏱🕆❄ 🖲🗄🗄⌛📂🖲🖮🖰📁📁📄🖮

 

* * *

 

It was too late to stop, when he saw the face careening towards him: All Brainz could do was brace for the impact. He ended up tripping and slamming down on the CORE’s cold metal floor, he heard a similar kind of **_*THUD*_ ** sound off from behind him. 

“Hey! Watch where yer _going_ you ass-” 

 

The thing was far too small not to be a kid, no wonder he tripped over them. Brainz’s attitude shifted indefinitely. 

“ _Oh._ (Shit) I’m sorry, here lemme help you.”

 

As if this wasn’t awkward enough already, he fumbled over the toppled child: looking for something to grab to pick them up. Either their arms were arrested by the bland sweater they were wearing, or they just weren’t lucky enough to be born with them. He found his resting point, propping them up by their disproportionate head: only having to mind the sharp fins going down the middle of it all the way down to their tail. Brainz brushed the kid off for them.

“Gosh- what’s wrong with me. Are you alright? This is on me, I’m in such a damn hurry I apparently don’t have the time to watch where I’m going…”

Well he  _was_ in a damn hurry but was still all for spiting himself as an act of penance. 

 

He finally got to see the face on the kid and couldn’t stop himself from the slight recoil he did. The kid’s eyes were _huge_ and lacked any semblance of pupils: to say he wasn’t expecting the sight would be an understatement. Maybe the reason it didn’t see _him_ was because it was _blind,_ then he’d _really_ feel bad. The kid spoke though. 

“(That was weird) Uhm- you’re fine. It was my fault. This was all the same… but I’ve never run into you before. This is the only time it’s ever happened… It’s _different._ You’ve changed it.”

His concern grew, not one thing from the kid sounded right. The delivery was stunted and confused sounding, it could’ve been a head injury. The eyes still threw him off.

“...Are you _sure_ you’re alright? Did you hit your head?”

 

The kid sounded astonished. 

“I _have_ … but not usually, and I won't do it again… Unless _you_ make me, but you won't will you? You’ve only done this once, and that’s all you’ll do. This world should be just the same with or without you… but it’s _not-”_

 

They looked up to him, was that _fear_ in their voice? 

“You’re only affecting _this_ one and not  _all_ of them … I don’t know… How. To feel about. **_That…”_ **

 

Brainz’s eyes widened and the recoil began a full solicitous grimace. 

“ **_Awugh._ ** _Dude!_ Your nose!”

 

Red streamed from the kids nostrils and steadily dripped to the floor. What made it worse was that Brainz seemed to be the only one concerned with this sudden and severe bleeding. He began rifling through his pockets with one hand while trying to tilt the kid’s head up with the other. 

“Tilt your head back, I-I think I’ve got a rag or something, hold on.”

“A rag...? But I’m not bleeding.”

 

“Yes you are! _Badly._ Just hold still and keep tilt that head back!” 

 

The kid suddenly smiled.

“Ha… ha, that makes me feel a bit better now… Don’t worry about it. Just forget about me and you’ll be fine, I think you can do that _too.”_

 

 **“** _What?_ What’re you talking about? You haven’t made a lick of sense yet and I’m really starting to think I just gave you a _serious_ concus-”

 

💧♓■♑◆●♋❒♓⧫⍓ ♎♏⧫♏♍⧫♏♎📬

* * *

 

“Okay… there’s Hunter’s street, almost there.” 

After two miles of hurriedly walking through rural neighborhoods and standing down with monsters, Brainz was exhausted. The glock was completely empty by this point and he had to use it as a club for the last few encounters. Walking on his home stretch never felt so relieving, even with the fog crippling his view. Just a tiny bit longer and he’d be safe for a moment. 

 

“ _This_. Night’s going to shit, I just wanna get in, lock it all up, sleep, and hope this all blows over tomorrow.”

 

The numbers on the mailboxes he passed gradually came closer to the one that belonged to him. 

“But _no,_ I get to waltz into more of this bullshit to _look_ for her in this mess, good timing.” 

 

**_2190_**

There it was, done in white stenciled paint on the side of a small pillar of bricks, the official plaque had fallen off a long time ago and he never got around to fixing another one. The paint made it look trashy but all the more distinguishable from the rest of the stuck up rich people who lived next to him. To be fair though, this was a _really nice_ neighborhood, the kind with neighbors who were too infatuated with themselves to bother you and neighborhood watches condemning an unkempt lawn so much as a clothesline in the front. The only real _bad_ thing in this neighborhood was _Brainz_ and he knew it very well. 

(He swore if he saw one more ‘neighborly’ complaint in his box about the crabgrass, he was going to take a drum of petrol to the damned whole lawn)

 

With the coast being clear, Brainz walked up his driveway: passing his unused ‘ 72 GTO and even less used double garage (It was full of junk anyways). Normally, the moon lit up the rooms behind the windows but the gray void in the sky left them looking like black tiles for his completely dark home. The locks on his door clicked and turned.

“Ok, gonna sit down for _five_ minutes and _then_ I’ll get going.”

 

When he opened the hardwood door, the black portal to the home wasn’t vacant. Two burning red eyes met and towered over him.

“ _What-the-FUCK?”_

 

A large white mitt burst from the darkness and welted him in his gut, sending him backwards and tumbling down his inclined lawn.

 

“ **_Hello Brainz…”_ **

Something spoke to him as the hard misery spread from his midsection and kept him from getting up too fast. He got as far as to his knees when a large foot came down on his back and pushed him back to the ground.

“ **No no,** **_do not_ ** **get up. Do not worry about that.”**

 

He felt it stomp on his back, a shockwave of pain put all of his muscles down. He tried to turn his head at the very least to _see_ the aggressor, but another terribly painful stomp on his back stopped him from doing so. All he could do was listen to that ironically devoted voice.

 

“ **I must admit that I am very disappointed in you. Such willful negligence of the simple thing I have asked of you. Did you think I would not** **_know_ ** **of this? Just because you simply cease to exist in the real world, it does not mean you have perished like I have asked. I have given you that request out of interest and great care for your** **_own good,_ ** **I could not care any less for anybody outside of you. So why would you feel this would appease me?”**

 

Brainz struggled like a cockroach stuck in a trap, his limbs scrambled fruitlessly for leverage. He just had to get away from this deranged woman spouting nonsense. 

 

 **“Oh,** **_stop it_ ** **now…”**

  
The weight on his back gave up, but he was grabbed by his shoulders and hoisted up against his will. 

 

A rabid looking monster with red eyes and horns atop its head held him in place. It wore some kind of regal looking garment with a peculiar marking on it he swore he’d seen before. It spoke again, the snout revealed rows of jagged teeth below. 

“ **Do not pretend you are someone else, you can not free yourself from your own SOUL. Take in your surroundings. You do not belong to them, they are not** **_yours_ ** **...”**

What the monster did was slowly turn him around, his shoulders and arms still arrested. His familiar neighborhood, still shrouded in fog: what was this thing trying to do?

 **“That is** **_enough._ ** **You continue to defy me. As usual,** **_I_ ** **will have to do what is right for you** **_myself.”_ **

 

The monster unfurled one of its boney appendages and brought its long and rotten face right up to Brainz. It opened its musty smelling sharklike maw: he closed his eyes. He could hear the teeth chomping down and clacking into each other. It wasn’t his face that it bit off, but the monster’s own claw: a red spurting stub was held right in front of his eyes. The red wasn’t even _warm,_ it felt like ice as it spurted onto his face. 

 

His struggles turned to thrashing, desperate attempts to break free or to at least spare his face from the cold poison. The damaged mitt clenched his chin and held him very still just to stare into his pulsating pupils. It whispered.

“ **Be very still now. And wait. It comes…”**

 

👍☼✋❄✋👍✌☹ 💧✋☠☝🕆☹✌☼✋❄✡ 👎☜❄☜👍❄☜👎

☠⚐ 🏱⚐💧💧✋👌☹☜ 👎✋✞☜☼☝☜☠👍☜

⚐🕆❄🏱🕆❄ ❄⚐🖳 ☠🕆☹☹

 

**Red began to swallow the world around them, the monster spoke one last phrase before it came for them.**

**“Singularity. Detected.”**

 

He yelled, muffled by its hand-

 

* * *

  
-but suddenly his shouting became unhindered and the restraint on his form was gone. He tried to jump up to his feet at the emergence of this immediate opportunity, but he couldn’t… There was no ground to leap up from, there was nothing… Not blackness nor the void consuming everything. Here was Brainz, and here **_wasn’t._ ** And it _was_ him this time. 

“ **_WHAT?!”_ **

 

His memory was a mess: multiple recollections clashed for the same places. He remembered walking out of a bar, but then becoming mesmerized by the power of a star built by cave dwelling monsters. He had to finish his mission for his friend _Byran,_ but Byran couldn’t have possibly walked up to him like he did. 

**_-What was real and what wasn’t?_ **

**_-Why did that strange child look like a dead ringer for the late yellow one? Was Brainz DEAD and somehow in the same afterlife as them?_ **

**_-FLOWEY? What was HE doing here? Was he actually HERE? Or was this all just a delusion?_ **

**_-What did Toriel do? It was OBVIOUSLY her, how was she BLEEDING? How were ANY of the freaks BLEEDING? How were the FREAKS on the surface?_ **

 

“My _head…_ it **_hurts… Eeeughnh!”_ **

 

He felt warmth running down his lips and even down his cheeks, but never a drop from his chin. He couldn't hear himself speak, there was nothing to carry his voice. This was like being in space without the explosive decompression, the absolute sensory deprivation he never could’ve imagined. Brainz had gotten to the point he was so confused and terrified that his perception of his own fear rolled over and he could only feel a lukewarm unsettlement. 

“How am I even _breathing?”_

 

He thought; and it was a rhetorical question. He _wasn’t_ breathing, there was no air to breathe but that didn’t seem to matter here because he didn’t feel like he _needed_ to. It only brought him back to his older thought.

“Am I dead? I don’t _feel_ dead. How would I know?... _If this is what it’s like being dead, then being dead SUCKS!”_

 

**“You’re not dead…”**

Her voice was the only thing heard, somehow: there was a direction to it and somehow Brainz was able to ‘face’ it. 

 

Yes, there was something there. A spot of red distant from him, no sense of where and how except that it was a ways from him. Another one… and Another one. They were coming closer to him, appearing like splotches of paint splashing the ground, he could _hear_ splashing suddenly. They just kept appearing closer and closer, to the point he could see the digits present in the splotches, they were footsteps: giant footsteps manifesting from an unseen force onto an unseen plane. 

“...Oh _no._ ”

 

They approached him and stopped, the red began to seep upward from the latest pair of footprints. It formed her silhouette and it itself began to fill up like a glass with color and shape. 

“ **_But that is why we are here…”_ **

 

“You miserable _fuck!_ I’ve had enough of this bullshit _reality_ fucking! It’s getting REAL OLD!” 

 

They weren’t talking, yet somehow they could hear what each other had to say. Toriel finished manifesting herself and crossed her arms paired with a slow head shake.

“ **It would not have to come to this, you know. If you were more** **_agreeable._ ** **With me. You would not be forced to experience this.”** ****

A good open armed gesture to the all the nothing that encapsulated them.

**_“Now.”_ **

 

She directed her attention back to Brainz.

“ **I am going to give you just** **_ONE_ ** **more chance. To redeem yourself. One more chance to let you find the way for yourself. To work with me…”**

 

She crouched down and stretched one of her arms to the ‘ground’ she stood on. Suddenly, a drop of red formed below her claws: it began to expand like a bubble. Brainz could see blades of _green_ forming from within the red radius, it was like they were still standing on the lawn. Toriel reached down and picked up what she wanted. The tiny existence closed up as her hand departed from it. 

**_“Here…”_ **

 

The dropped firearm from before was shoved into his hand and her own grip made him clasp the thing.

 **_“_ ** **This will be my final** **_gift_ ** **to you. You know what to do with it.”**

 

Even if everything he experienced in this unfeasible reality wasn’t real, the weapon surely was now. He looked at the slide, it was locked back: as empty as he had left it. It wouldn’t accomplish _anything_ except giving her the satisfaction that she won: giving her his will to die. Even in this ambiguous state, he wasn’t going to give in. Brainz looked up to her ‘innocent’ smile, how much she wanted to convince him of it. 

...

“Go fuck yourself…” 

 

Her face burst into an infuriated snarl, the red in her eyes ignited and overshadowed the black voids in her sockets. The gun was knocked from his hand with a sharp slash. She grabbed hold of his shoulders and yanked him to her face just to roar at him: the faux voice was cast away for her distorted nightmare speak.

 **“ＹＯＵ  ＰＡＴＨＥＴＩＣ  ＷＨＥＬＰ： ＨＯＷ  ＤＯ ＹＯＵ ＣＯＮＴＩＮＵＥ  ＴＯ** **_ＤＥＦＹ_ ** **ＭＥ  ＬＩＫＥ  ＴＨＩＳ？！”**

Brainz demonstrated some of that defiance right back at her, refusing to even look at her as he pressed his eyelids shut and yelled.

“The same way I never listened to you from the START!”

 

Toriel shrieked with fury and decked Brainz with a backhand to his face. She hit him again before he even finished recoiling at it: then again, and then _again,_ another blow to his stomach, then another to the back of his head, she slashed at his arms and tore long gashes into his clothes and skin. There was no hesitation or mercy to her blows, they came in rapid succession, one after the other: he’d be reeling from the last one and would only get a glimpse of rapid movement before the next one struck him.

 

“ＷＨＹ ＷＯＮ＇Ｔ ＹＯＵ **_ＤＩＥ？！”_ **

 

He made her _really_ angry this time… It was kind of funny. Actually, it was the most horrible thing he could think of at the moment: so that meant it was **_funny as hell._ ** Despite all the blows and the excruciating sensations that kept piling up, Brainz laughed at her. The spite made it all the more _hilarious_ as he erupted into a raucous _howling_ laughter that only lapsed as he flinched from her attacks. 

 

Toriel growled and snarled louder than ever, the speed and ferocity of her attacks became impossible, but still she was greeted with laughter. Her sounds of duress and frustration only made it _funnier_ , she wasn’t even excruciating Brainz anymore. He was the one tormenting _her_ in the end, a persistent beacon to signify her utter failure in every single conceivable angle. Brainz tried to stoke the flames even more, it was hard to speak with him giggling so hard.

“ _You_ can’t do **_ANYTHING_ ** right! You’re a fucking **_FAILURE!_ ** At least **_I_ ** made shit happen! What did _you_ do?? You couldn’t convince a suicidal man with the WORLD on his shoulders to _kill_ himself!”

 

 **“ＳＴＯＰ** **_ＴＡＬＫＩＮＧ.”_**

 

“But yer all _ABOUT_ having a laugh at someone else’s expense! But now that it’s on YOU, you fold in like a deuce facing a royal flush? That’s fuck’n HILARIOUS!” 

 

The shrillest of screams overshadowed the pained laughter.

“ＴＨＡＴ＇Ｓ   **_ＥＮＯＯＯＵＵＵＧＨ!!!!”_ **

 

Brainz was violently thrown from her grip. Another red tear opened up for him to land in, to tumble and scrape against the concrete of a sidewalk off his lawn. The sensation of gravity returned to him like a smothering blanket, it was so disoritneting that he couldn’t get up. It felt like his muscles simply forget how to. He had the simple luxury of seeing the deformed monster start _sprinting_ for him. Tiny patches of ground momentarily formed under her feet to allow her to do this. All Brainz could do was sit and wait for what she was about to do, anticipating more pain while forcing himself to keep on laughing for the sake of spite. The monster leapt and touched down over Brainz with an impact that shook the fragment of the world. 

 

**“Ｙｏｕ  ｗａｎｎａ ｌａｕｇｈ  ａｔ ｍｅ？ Ｓｅｅ ＭＥ  ｓｕｆｆｅｒ？**

**Ｔｈｉｎｋ  ｔｈｉｓ ｉｓ  ａｌｌ ａ ｋｉｎｄ  ｏｆ ＧＡＭＥ？**

 

**Ｔｈｉｓ  ｉｓ ｍｙ  ＬＩＦＥ ｙｏｕ＇ｒｅ  ｌａｕｇｈｉｎｇ ａｔ！**

**Ｙｏｕ  ｗａｎｔ ｔｏ  ｍａｋｅ ｕｓ ＢＯＴＨ  ｕｎｈａｐｐｙ？**

**Ｔｈａｔ＇ｓ  ａｌｌ ｙｏｕ＇ｖｅ  ｅｖｅｒ ｄｏｎｅ！**

**Ｉ＇ｌｌ  ｓｈｏｗ ｙｏｕ．．．”**

 

Her hands sparked and were suddenly engulfed with fire, Brainz took one look at the blazing things and his eyes widened. Toriel brought her hands down to Brainz and without so much as a moment afterwards: he burst into flames. 

 

Now it was _his_ turn to scream incoherently. The heat swallowed him whole and he could feel it digesting every inch of his flesh. Now he was the one rolling and thrashing around, all he could really think of besides screaming and pain was the irony in this. 

 

Brainz did everything he could to put himself out, he rolled over and over desperate to smother the flames, he tried to separate himself from his  immolated clothes but it was no good. She set _him_ on fire, all he could do was scream in agony. His gasps for air started to weaken, he had less and less to scream with and his movements began to slow down. Brainz collapsed to the ground in a smoldering heap of himself and went still. This was how he was going apparently, not by his own means or in some grand battle: but by Toriel herself. Left to wonder with the last of his thought: just _how_ did she manage to get to him in the end?

 

The flames continued to eat away at him, Brainz just watched himself burn away. His hands were splayed out in front of him, now nothing but charred bones with flakes of ash disintegrating. But the sidewalk was immaculate instead of being littered with his flesh droppings. Something peculiar about this finally took hold of his attention: there were ten remnants of fingers on the ground, if his skin was still there, his ring finger would be completely intact. 

“This isn’t real..”

 

“．．． _Ｗｈａｔ？”_

 

Brainz pushed himself onto his knees and held out his flesh ridden hands, staring at his boney digits as they were able to move and cycle. He slowly turned to Toriel even as he was still engulfed in flames.

“I said this isn’t _real_ , I can tell because of _this.”_

 

His hands had been completely recovered, recovered _too_ much, the flames did nothing to damage them and lost their intensity. Brainz put emphasis on the one finger he wasn’t supposed to have. 

“Doesn’t matter what you do to me here-”

 

He scoffed and the flames went out, not even so much as smoke lingered.

“-Because I’m not actually _myself.”_

 

All those injuries she inflicted on him were gone. They didn’t even _hurt_ anymore because they never existed in the first place. It was all just a delusion. 

 

“Ｙｏｕ＇ｖｅ  ｌｏｓｔ ｉｔ， Ｉ＇ｌｌ  _ＰＲＯＶＥ_   ｉｔ!”

 

A fireball was chucked at him, he felt the heat on his chest before it struck him and exploded like a firework. Brainz didn’t even flinch at it… He only furthered what he was coming to terms with as he stood up and began walking to the end of the rift. 

“... ,The reason you can do all this shit here is because none of it's _real.”_

 

He thought more of it, going beyond this strange place: when she sliced into his palm back at the lab… 

“There were shards of glass all over the floor. I broke that monitor: you could’ve easily made me slit my own hand open and take the credit for yourself.”

 

Toriel began to back away, the look on her face was something indescribable. It looked like fear manifesting on something that didn’t even know _how_ to be scared. Brainz further advanced on her, despite running out of ground to tread on: his pace only became more confident.

“In fact. I bet if I looked in the mirror right now, I’d have a choke bruise the size of my _own hands…”_

 

His foot departed from the grass and sank into the empty space: before a smaller chunk of earth manifested itself to catch him. He’d be able to walk right up to her in the same way she did to him. The monster lost most of her frenzy, the glow in her eyes went out. 

“Ｔｈａｔ ｄｏｅｓｎ＇ｔ ｍｅａｎ **_ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ. Ｔｈａｔ  ｄｏｅｓ ｎｏｔ ｍｅａｎ ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ  ａｔ ＡＬＬ.”_ **

 

“You’re exactly as you were in life, Toriel. **_Nothing,_ ** nothing without me to leech on.”

 

She stammered and began to tremble as Brainz caught up to her more and more, never did he look so determined and focused. Toriel in the midst of her frail mutterings suddenly erupted in a wail, breaking her own voice to help it rend anyone’s heart. 

“ _You_ did this to me! All I ever wanted to do was to be a _mother_ to you! And you took my kindness and love and you used it to **_HURT ME! YOU DID THIS TO ME.”_ **

 

Brainz stepped right up to her and calmly shook his head. 

“No, Toriel. You did this to yourself. As for _me_ though?”

 

His hand ran across her coarse furred snout.

“ _I_ did this to me: You’re not Toriel, you’re just a figment of my imagination. I’m too far gone to realize that for myself, but you just shot yourself in the _foot_ . **_I’m done with you.”_ **

 

She stared in bewilderment as Brainz turned from her and walked away slowly without so much as another word. 

 

“ **No. Please. Don’t leave me…”**

 

No answer.

“ **You** **_need_ ** **me…”**

 

Brainz stopped for a moment. But not to acknowledge her, he simply bent over and placed his hand into the grass that came into existence at his touch. He stood back up and continued walking away, intent to leave her there by her lonesome. 

 

“Ｙｏｕ． _Ｃａｎ＇ｔ_ ． **_ＬＥＡＶＥ!!!!”_ **

Not-Toriel jumped up and lunged at Brainz with every last bit of her ferocity. Brainz turned around and brandished the empty gun she had once put in his hand. He pointed it right at her and pulled the trigger before she would reach him. 

**_-*BLAM*-_ **

 

Not-Toriel gave out a pained grunt and stumbled on her momentum before she came to a dead halt. A claw clutched at a hole in her shoulder, it bled uncontrollably. 

**_-*BLAM*-_ **

 

Another hole tore into her stomach, she doubled over for a moment. Brainz shot her again: and again: and again: and again. He pulled that trigger over and over, one shot after another: each striking the monster and scoring her guttural grunts of pain. The shots continued and easily surpassed what would’ve been possible for the magazine to carry. He kept firing into her. The pool of red forming under her was becoming _huge._ Her form was completely riddled with holes, some connecting with each other to detract large chunks of mass from her body. The last shot went right between her eyes, she had long fallen over and soaked herself with her own red but it didn’t stop Brainz from putting thirty-three more rounds into her for good measure. 

 

The gun was billowing with smoke and had a slight red glow to it. Brainz pressed the barrel right into what was left of her snout (Just some exposed teeth and stringy bits of flesh): Brainz held off on shooting her for just a moment. He let himself stare down at this brutalized pile of red hatred and despair, the repulsive state he’d made of it. He could ‘kill’ it as much as he wanted, as long as he would try: but as the puddle of red continued to spread to the size of a pond… It would never go away. Moments like this helped him realize that regardless of what he’d do, he was truly damned. 

 

She knew this too, the mangled corpse laying under Brainz started to giggle, spitting out chunks of herself in the process. It laughed at him with all the self hatred and spite he’d ever had for himself. He had enough of it though, and ended the time with his projected demon by stomping on her head. She laughed all the way until the last stomp imploded her opened head. Everything stopped. Brainz would never see her again. 

 

Her destroyed body completely dissolved into liquid red as soon as she died, the pool suddenly gained depth and Brainz immediately began to succumb to it. It was like a portal of red blood had opened under his feet… He fell in. 

* * *

  
  
  
**✍✍🖳✍✍🖳✍✍☜☼☼**

**  
**✍✍🖳✍✍🖳✍✍☜☼☼** **

  
**✍✍🖳✍✍🖳✍✍☜☼☼**

****...** **


	28. Penultimate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See Below

 

Aʜ, ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇsᴇ sʜᴇʟʟs, ᴇᴍᴘᴛʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴇsᴏʟᴀᴛᴇ.

 

**ᴵ ˡᶦᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ᵂᵃˡʳᵘˢ ᵇᵉˢᵗ," ˢᵃᶦᵈ ᴬˡᶦᶜᵉ, "ᵇᵉᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ˢᵉᵉ ʰᵉ ʷᵃˢ ᵃ ˡᶦᵗᵗˡᵉ ˢᵒʳʳʸ ᶠᵒʳ ᵗʰᵉ ᵖᵒᵒʳ ᵒʸˢᵗᵉʳˢ."**

 

ₕᵤₛₕ, ₗᵢₜₜₗₑ ᵦₐᵦᵧ, 𝒹ₒₙ'ₜ ₛₐᵧ ₐ 𝓌ₒᵣ𝒹.

ₚₐₚₐ'ₛ 𝓰ₒᵢₙ𝓰 ₜₒ ᵦᵤᵧ ᵧₒᵤ ₐ ᴍ̶ᴏ̷ᴄ̷ᴋ̴ɪ̴ɴ̵ɢ̷ ̸ʙ̶ɪ̴ʀ̶ᴅ̶

 

  "Lɪsᴛᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ," sᴀɪᴅ ᴛʜᴇ Dᴇᴍᴏɴ, ᴀs ʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇᴅ ʜɪs ʜᴀɴᴅ ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀᴅ. 

 

**N̷̰͕̳̘͊͒͆E̷̥͉͕̜̍͐̅̔̓͠V̷̱̗͕͕̰̬̾͂E̸̪̐R̶̘̝̰͕̲̬̋̈́̇̚͝M̷͎̄O̷̮͋RE**

 

"Lᴏᴏᴋ,ᴀɴᴅ sᴇᴇ: Tʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ʏᴇᴛ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴛᴏ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ."

 

**"ᴴᵉ ᵃᵗᵉ ᵐᵒʳᵉ ᵗʰᵃⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵃʳᵖᵉⁿᵗᵉʳ, ᵗʰᵒᵘᵍʰ," ˢᵃᶦᵈ ᵀʷᵉᵉᵈˡᵉᵈᵉᵉ. "ʸᵒᵘ ˢᵉᵉ ʰᵉ ʰᵉˡᵈ ʰᶦˢ ʰᵃⁿᵈᵏᵉʳᶜʰᶦᵉᶠ ᶦⁿ ᶠʳᵒⁿᵗ, ˢᵒ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵃʳᵖᵉⁿᵗᵉʳ ᶜᵒᵘˡᵈⁿ'ᵗ ᶜᵒᵘⁿᵗ ʰᵒʷ ᵐᵃⁿʸ ʰᵉ ᵗᵒᵒᵏ: ᶜᵒⁿᵗʳᵃʳᶦʷᶦˢᵉ."**

 

**Dʏɪɴɢ ʜᴀɴᴅs ʟᴇғᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀ ʙᴏᴏɴ.**

 

**ₕₒₙₒᵣ ₜₕₑ ₕₐₙ𝒹ₛ ₜₕₐₜ ₕₐᵣᵥₑₛₜ ᵧₒᵤᵣ 𝒸ᵣₒₚₛ.**

 

**B̶ʟ̴ᴏ̸ᴏ̷ᴅ̶ ̴s̵ᴛ̸ᴀ̵ɪ̷ɴ̷ᴇ̵ᴅ̵ ̵ ̴ʜ̸ᴀ̵ɴ̶ᴅ̵s̸ ̸ʙ̷ʀ̶ᴏ̶ᴜ̸ɢ̵ʜ̵ᴛ̷ ̴ɪ̷ᴛ̶ ̸ᴛ̶ᴏ̷ ̵ᴜ̶s̴ᴇ̵.̵**

 

“Iᴛ ᴡᴀs ɴɪɢʜᴛ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴀɪɴ ғᴇʟʟ; ᴀɴᴅ, ғᴀʟʟɪɴɢ, ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs ʀᴀɪɴ, ʙᴜᴛ, ʜᴀᴠɪɴɢ ғᴀʟʟᴇɴ, ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ.”

 

**ᴵᵗ ᶦˢ ⁿᵒᵗ ᵃˡʷᵃʸˢ ᵍʳᵃⁿᵗᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵒʷᵉʳ ᵗᵒ ˢᵉᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ʰᵃʳᵛᵉˢᵗ**

 

**N̷̰͕̳̘͊͒͆E̷̥͉͕̜̍͐̅̔̓͠V̷̱̗͕͕̰̬̾͂E̸̪̐R̶̘̝̰͕̲̬̋̈́̇̚͝M̷͎̄O̷̮͋RE**

  
  


**"ᵀʰᵃᵗ ʷᵃˢ ᵐᵉᵃⁿᵎ" ᴬˡᶦᶜᵉ ˢᵃᶦᵈ ᶦⁿᵈᶦᵍⁿᵃⁿᵗˡʸ. "ᵀʰᵉⁿ ᴵ ˡᶦᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵃʳᵖᵉⁿᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵉˢᵗ**

**ᶦᶠ̶ ̷ʰ̶ᵉ̸ ̷ᵈ̴ᶦ̷ᵈ̸ⁿ̸'̴ᵗ̸ ̷ᵉ̵ᵃ̴ᵗ̴ ̵ˢ̷ᵒ̵ ̶ᵐ̴ᵃ̸ⁿ̷ʸ̸ ̶ᵃ̷ˢ̸ ̵ᵗ̴ʰ̷ᵉ̵ ̴ᵂ̵ᵃ̴ˡ̷ʳ̴ᵘ̵ˢ̵.̵"̷**

 

ₜₕₑ ᵣₑₐₚₑᵣ 𝒹ₒₑₛ ₙₒₜ ₗᵢₛₜₑₙ ₜₒ ₜₕₑ **ₕₐᵣᵥₑₛₜ.**

 

**“Tʜᴇ ᴡᴀᴛᴇ** ʀs ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪ **ᴠᴇ̸ʀ̵ ̶ʜ̶ᴀ̸ᴠ̶ᴇ̸ ̶ᴀ̴ ̴s̸ᴀ̴ғ̵ғ̷** ʀ̸ᴏ̷ɴ̸ ̴ᴀ̸ɴ̶ᴅ̷ ̶s̸ɪ̴ᴄ̶ᴋ̷ʟ̶ʏ̶ ̵ʜ̶ᴜ̸ᴇ̷”̸

  
  


**"ᴮᵘᵗ ʰᵉ ᵃᵗᵉ ᵃˢ ᵐᵃⁿʸ ᵃˢ ʰᵉ ᶜᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵍᵉᵗ," ˢ̸ᵃ̵ᶦ̵ᵈ̵ ̶ᵀ̴ʷ̸ᵉ̶ᵉ̶ᵈ̵ˡ̷ᵉ̵ᵈ̸ᵘ̵ᵐ̵**

**Wʜᴇɴ ɪᴛ ɪs ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴏᴡ, sᴏᴡ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪᴛ ɪs ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀʀᴠᴇsᴛ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀʀᴠᴇsᴛ. Oʙᴇʏ ᴛʜɪs ʀᴜʟᴇ.**

 

ᴱ̵͈ᵛ̵͍͛ᵉ̴͎̒ʳ̸͉̽ʸ̵̦͠ᵗ̴̊ͅʰ̴̮̆ᶦ̷̣̊ⁿ̷̝̑ᵍ̷̖̈́ ̷͇̓ᶠ̸̖̑ᵃ̵̺͊ᵈ̶̝̍ᵉ̵̯̽ˢ̴̧̂.̶͚̐

 

**Dᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ɢᴏ ɢᴇɴᴛʟᴇ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ɴɪɢʜᴛ,**

**Oʟᴅ ᴀɢᴇ sʜᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴜʀɴ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴀᴠᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴄʟᴏsᴇ ᴏғ ᴅᴀʏ;**

**Rᴀɢᴇ, ʀᴀɢᴇ ᴀɢᴀɪɴsᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅʏɪɴɢ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɢʜᴛ.**

  
  


* * *

* * *

 

 

✍✍🖳✍✍🖳✍✍

**RESOLVED**

**00:00:00**

**(Recalculating…)**

**16:24:19**

**16:24:18**

**16:24:17**

**...**

  


“Help… need help. I need help… Anybody….”

The call for help went unnoticed and unrivaled, nobody cared, nobody came. A futile attempt muffled by a sea of hurt and blinded by nothingness. Yet, it still tried: making itself clearer despite the weakness taking a toll.

**“Any station, This is Papa-Whiskey three. My squad. Was hit. They’re uhhh… It’s just me now. I’m pretty messed up, I think my leg is… there’s a lot of blood. I don’t know.”**

 

The voice emerged closer from the grasp of oblivion, it spearheaded the return to the conscious world: it was grating and painful to listen to. Painful became the one way to describe every sensation. Another voice introduced itself, it was so close. Everytime one finished talking, a nasty crackling sound would come up.

**“Papa-Whiskey three. This is Delta-November six, I’m going to need you to get a tourniquet from your iFAK and tie it above the wound on your leg.”**

 

**“My iFAK’s gone…”**

 

**“Could you repeat that?”**

 

**“My iFAK is gone, it’s uh… _Uhhhn…”_**

 

**“Papa-Whiskey three?”**

 

A tired groan croaked out beside the now lone voice.

“... Uuurgh. Enough already…” 

Brainz came to sound of the poor fidelity conversation and sluggish sounding klaxon alarms, his head was still slowing down from all the spinning. 

“Can’t. _Breathe…_ ” 

 

His first fully emerged thought, it felt like there was a slab of lead sitting on his chest. There was all kinds of pressure all over his body, but the one making breathing a struggle was his main concern. It was time to open his eyes, slowly though. 

 

Mostly dark, with glints of red light streaming through countless little cracks and gaps.

“Erugh, that was _heavy…_ where am I _now?_ Is this real life again?”

He wanted to try his surefire method finding that out, but moving his arm was actually really difficult: something heavy was sitting just below his shoulder and putting his arm to sleep. This was similar for everything else, Brainz found that he really couldn’t move his body. The moderate claustrophobia got him to wake up much faster. Brainz tried to move every part of himself, everything was impeded by some different piece of metal piled on top of him. One part of his left leg felt like there were pieces of glass stabbing into it. It was like being inside of a sarcophagus made of scrap metal. 

The most freedom Brainz had was to look straight up from his flat self on the floor, he could see the most unimpeded source of light shining in, only a couple of feet away from where he was and with a clearance to it that could be _just_ enough for him if he could manage to flip himself over and crawl. It really wasn’t easy to do, he had to put all of his hampered strength into lifting the slab of metal atop his chest in order to flip himself onto his stomach. Even then, his left arm was completely useless until the blood returned to it and something _really_ didn’t want to let go of his foot. At last though, he pulled himself out from the confined space and stood up to alleviate the stiffness joining his soreness. Even though it hurt to do so, a stretch made him feel better. The first thing he did too, was to inspect his fingers. The gloves on his hands made it hard to tell but squeezing the empty ring finger on the one glove made him sigh with what had to be relief. So he was back in the real world, where was he exactly? 

Walls of metal and intricate engravings in the floor? He was still in the core, at least not _INSIDE_ it anymore… if that’s what it was: everything he went through. It was a bittersweet realization. For his own sake, whatever was left of his mental integrity: he was going to put everything that happened inside, aside. 

“Well. It’s good to be _back_ I guess…” 

Redo that: Brainz was standing in a _piece_ of the core. He just crawled out of a collapse that went right up into the ceiling, the end of the corridor he was standing in was no bigger than a single bathroom. There was no way he was getting through all the debris and no way anything else was, he had the _whole_ 6x6x8 section of intact core all to himself. (Actually no: those voices he heard were coming from a radio. And being every radio was part of a soldier’s personal getup: chances are there was a body somewhere in the pile, someone ~~more~~ less fortunate than he) 

 

That wasn’t _all_ though: Brainz finally pinpointed the reason he felt so much lighter and unencumbered suddenly. He wasn’t being weighed down by things like his M16 or his shotgun, not even the inventory on his back: they weren’t anywhere to be found. It made him cringe and groan miserbally.

“ _Ohh_ no… Not _again….”_

Only this time, he had the specific feeling he wasn’t going to see them again. Reaching into the crevice he crawled out from only strengthened the bleak prognosis: he didn’t find anything. All he had was his handgun, that and the hand grenade he held onto. He could still feel them swaying in his pockets, he tried to pick up his only gun with his still tingling hand.

“ _Stupid_ hand, still puffy and weak…” 

But _hey_ though! On the flip side: this was yet _another_ apocalyptic event that he just barely survived. Not even _that_ could kill him… this only made him depressed. He really didn’t want to ask himself this next question, but he was all too aware by now that the universe demanded it from him. He didn’t have to pretend that he cared anymore at least.

“I wonder… _How._ I’m… gonna get _out_ of this, I guess…” 

 

He gave nothing but a morose sigh, noticing the open elevator shaft.

“Fine..."

The car was present, but no power of course: it seemed like the whole area was dead. The only reason he could still see was from the dim red emergency lights still holding on. Now came the bizarre thing, some of the ceiling tiles inside had given away and opened the car to the empty shaft… it wasn’t so empty as much as completely entangled with large, thorny vines. With his mind still blurry, all he could really denote was how out of place they were, and a small feeling of familiarity scratching at the back of his head. But then… another thought: they weren’t _moving_ and the thorns were large enough he could grasp and place a foot on them.

“Could Iiiii… climb up this?”

Ok, so even he immediately deduced that this wasn’t ideal for a multitude of reasons (No idea where it went, it was really dark in there, he could easily slip, it could be _alive,_ did he _really_ want to continue into the unknown with his firepower hampered like it was?) but it wasn’t like he had anything else to do.

…

Brainz hated to admit that the lack of gear on him made this a lot easier to do, although lacking a light source didn’t add to the ease. It was also worth of note that the shaft wasn’t even truly _vertical,_ it became more like a really steep slope: a diagonal ascension that shifted in inclinations as he climbed. Some parts of it were passive enough that he could simply walk up the side of the shaft using the vines as a guide rope. 

At last: Brainz found another source of light seeping into the shaft from above, he climbed out from the mostly open doors. The vines didn’t stretch any further up, they instead ranged outside of the space. 

 

“Whoa…” 

 

Two reasons for that. One: the vines spread from the narrow shaft and covered almost _everything_ out here; the _walls,_ the _floor,_ the _ceiling._ It looked like this place had been reclaimed by a jungle with thirty years to do so. Second: he recognized where he was. Brainz was at the overlook right outside of the castle, he _made_ it but could barely recognize the place. 

 

“What. _Happened_ here?”

 

He was nonplussed and deeply disconcerted to say the least, everywhere he had backtracked had become something just short of a nightmare, it seemed his final destination wanted to be upfront with him. Something really, _really_ bad was going to happen: he just felt it sinking into his stomach. But no, Brainz wasn’t going to let it distract him: he had his kid to get to and that trumped _everything_ this place could ever throw at him. With nary an additional word said, Brainz proceeded with gun and grenade in hands. 

_‘I’m on my way, Flowey. Just five more minutes.’_

He returned to the trail of dust and brass casings, now completely overridden with vines. What became of the city under siege was nothing below absolute devastation. Mounds of smoking rubble as far as he could see and chunks of earth falling from the cavern ceiling accompanying every tremor. It looked like a nuclear bomb had been dropped on this place, not a scrap of life had been spared. He wasn’t met with the carried echoes of gunshots in the distance, not even the glimpse of flashes in the windows that still stood. They were all dead. The burden on his back returned, climbing up to his shoulders: but there was no one here to force it higher upon him. No voice of damnation or culpability to worsen the crushing feeling: he killed her. 

 

This was a very long and monotonous walk… And yet he didn’t want to conclude it. After everything he’d been through, everything he’d endured within this world and within his own mind, everything he’d learned: the walk felt much too short for him. But it _had_ to end, and he had to step into the house. The darkness inside had been waiting for him, the vines crept inside through the windows.

 

“Flowey! I’m back!” 

When he was all but sure the house was empty, Brainz ran up to the vase.

“I’m back- I’m _here,_ I-I-I’m finally back! I-I I am so _so_ sorry for making your wait like this. You- _you_ were right all along about her. I should have _NEVER_ put you aside like that. Never again. I’m never going to leave you again.”

 

Flowey did not emerge to accept his genuine attempt at a promise. 

“Flowey? You can come out! It’s _me_ , Brainz! I’m here to get you out! We’re gonna _leave_ now! C’mon!” 

 

No answer, he felt his heart lurch. The house lurched too with the passing of another tremor. Brainz became aggressive, but his voice was faltering fast. 

“Flowey, **come-** **_on._ ** Lets **_go_ ** we gotta _go!_ This place is f-falling apart, we g-gotta **_leave,_ ** now!” 

 

…

  


“Flowey! Where the _ff_ \- **_uck_ ** _ARE_ you?!”

 

In the moment, Brainz went out of his skull. He began frantically scooping out handfuls of the soil from the vase, searching for the kid. His search did nothing but fail and push him to panic even further. He took the vase and smashed it to the floor, getting down on his knees and sifting through the mess. 

“ _Flowey!_ **_FLOWE-YYYYY!!!! *FLOWEY*!!”_ **

 

No matter how loud he screamed, how hard he searched, no matter how many times he called out: **_Nobody Came…_ ** And in his hysterical search, Brainz found that there were withered little petals, sparsely scattered on the floor like confetti.

 

“No… No. No no no _no no_ **_no no NO NO NOOOOOOO!!!”_ **

 

Balled fists slammed into the hardwood floor, the dead petals hopped into the air with each impact. His screaming wouldn’t stop for minutes, Brainz screamed and screamed until he had nothing left to scream with and his hands ached with a vengeance. 

 

There was nobody here. Nobody to strut in and tell him how this was all his fault, that he _deserved_ this and everything he went through for being so naive and disloyal. That this was _always_ going to happen just like every other child he tried to ‘ _Help’._ There was nothing here, nothing except him cut by shards of glass and broken dreams. 

He wheezed,He panted gruffly, And he stood up. The petals fell from his trembling fingers. 

 

Everything just _‘_ stopped’ _._ Even the crying went silent, all the sensations that overcame him, suddenly _stopped._ It felt ‘ _better’_ It didn’t feel like anything anymore, the pain stopped: the voices quieted, and the sirens in the distance left. It was so numb _clear,_ so clear that he could remember how long it had been since everything felt like this. No heartache, no hindrance getting in the way. There was nothing left but _him_ , and the job he had to do.

 

Well, there was _one_ little thing that still held on after the shock. Ironically, one of the smallest doubts that had sat reservedly in the back of his head since he stepped in here for the first time. One withheld piece of information that didn’t necessarily have any weight in what mattered to him now. The bedroom Flowey was so adamant on keeping Brainz out of: he had to admit he was curious and because there was nobody here to _stop_ him, Brainz approached it and tried the knob. 

 

Asriel’s room was unlocked, although the vines wrapped around the doorframe and made it a bit of a challenge to open the door. But it was nothing a little bit of weight throwing couldn’t fix. Brainz barged into the room and got his first look inside. 

 

It was a bedroom… it looked a lot like the one Brainz woke up in. It made sense though, being this place was a copy of itself from the RUINs. There was something a bit different about it though, it was far less inviting than the other version: everything was covered in this perfect film of _dust._ Nobody had been in here for a _long_ time. There were also _two_ beds instead of one but despite these minor differences, it was a _child’s_ bedroom just like the other one. There was a row of stuffed animals beside one bed, all inflicted with the tatterment that could only result from being well loved.

 

Brainz stepped into the dark space, disturbing the dust on the floor. There was a photo frame laying face down on the dresser across the door, he couldn’t leave this room without taking a look. The curiosity was just too ravenous at this point. Yet as he came within arm’s reach of the picture, he hesitated despite just doing away with his emotions. The way the dust parted slightly off from touching the sides of picture, it had to have fallen over recently. Maybe there was a reason… He did pick it up though.

 

**_The Dreemurr family. Their happiness captured in a permanent glance._ **

 

Asriel. He was there, and he looked _just_ like his mother. She stood behind him, clasping his shoulder and wearing a crown on her head. Asgore cradled everyone with his large arm, he was so large he barely fit in the picture… 

 

The truth was a throbbing pulse under his skull, every beat pushed all the lies further and further away. 

There it was. The answer that he craved so badly, the sole means to put out the questions that burned so much. Brainz was right about Toriel, she _was_ related to Asgore: he just never fathomed that she was his wife and the queen of all monsters. Everything made _sense_ , all the pieces he’d stumbled upon on his way: they finally came together to make this polaroid moment in his hands. 

 

Brainz caressed his eyes and forehead into his open hand, the longest sigh escaped from his lips.

 

Of _course…_ why would it be any other way? For everything frankly answered, another question would take its place: harder and less definite than ever. Was this all on Asgore? Was Toriel a good person once, or was she born into this cruelty. But Asriel…  he looked so _young,_ and he was involved in this? He couldn’t have… not on his own. It didn’t matter if he was a monster or not, he was just a _kid:_ he couldn’t have ended up as he did without someone corrupting him. It _had_ to be Asgore, that warm smile in the picture was as fraudulent as anything Brainz could ever put up. He was _guilty_ as hell. 

 

There was something else about the picture that inherently bothered Brainz. The fabled human child paired with the son. Their hair was all unkempt bangs obscuring their face. Why wouldn’t it be? The poor thing was probably neglected to the _nth_ degree, forced to wear the same clothing as their actual kid… It wasn’t _that_ though, there was something disturbingly familiar about those bangs. 

 

Brainz was starting to feel lightheaded, it was too difficult to stay standing: he had to sit down. It was too much... The damn air was too much. In the room, it was so stagnant that it was making him feel sick. Not to mention to pain behind his eyes. He sat down on the side of the less decorated bed with the portrait still in his hands. But discomfort shot up from his tailbone and made him stand back up, there was something hard under the covers. 

Peculiar… he put the picture back for just a moment while he pulled the covers back to reveal… a knife just laying on the bed. Now _that_ was peculiar, it was going to be just another unsolved question in the end. But hold on now… there was something disturbingly familiar about the _knife._ Brainz held it in his hand and tried to think.

 

It was a black Ka-Bar combat/utility knife with a leather washer grip, a very _used_ knife at that. The leather was worn white and the black spray paint on the blade was ludicrously scratched up. It was the kind of knife they gave to _soldiers_ but… It couldn’t have been related to _these_ ones. So what was it _doing_ in an untouched child’s bedroom? 

 

…

 

“Wait a minute. _Wait_ a _minute…”_

 

One of the familiar feelings finally came into fruition, Brainz turned the tool over and narrowed his gaze onto the grip. Crudely engraved into the leather were three letters, just like he remembered. 

**B.A.R**

His grip tightened on the knife.

“This is _my_ knife…” 

 

The years had taken so much off from his memory, but some things were still as prominent as the day they came to be and these were _his_ initials put onto the grip. The knife belonged to Brainz, but why was it _here?_

 

There was more to it, something he didn’t remember about it so much, the smaller and newer looking letters engraved just under his.

**_C.D_ **

 

“ _Ohhhh… it can’t be.”_

 

The picture was picked up again, and he stared at the child in it: putting it right next to the knife. Those bangs, that face.

“No way… there’s _no. Way…”_

 

The denials were factual, then incredulous  but there came a point where they were just blatant lies. He could not ignore the name rising from the depths of his recollection. Brainz closed his eyes and when he opened them again: the knife was still in his hand, but it was asleep inside of its holster now...

* * *

  


“Hey! Could you c’mere a sec?”

 

The sound of a raised voice came from upstairs.

“ _Yea,_ I’m comin. One sec!”

Footsteps drummed down the staircase, and the kid swung around from the bannister at the bottom. Stopping right before him.

“What’s up? Is everything alright?”

 

Brainz could see the doubt trying to get into them and cause undue anxiety he worked so hard to stamp out. 

“Mm-hm! Yeah. No it’s all good, I just. I wanted to show ya somethin.”

 

He crouched down and presented the blade for the kid to admire. Their scarlet eyes widened as he held it out with the letters facing them.

“Whooaaa, what _is_ that?”

 

Brainz couldn’t help but snort amusedly at the little wonderment he put on them. It always made him smile. 

“This? This is an army issued Combat Knife, they gave these to everyone who went to Vietnam. They gave this one to my _dad-”_

 

He stopped himself mid sentence and darted his eyes for a second before coming back with a digression.

“-I mean ‘Sir’ My uh- My father always made me refer to him as ‘Sir’ he was my ‘Sir’.”

Brainz rolled his eyes at it and exhaled humorously, but got back on track.

“My **_‘sir’_ ** (heh), brought this knife back from _Nam._ I mean fair’s fair, the US took his right arm so he figured he’d take something _back._ Anywho… they gave this knife to _him_ and one day, he gave this knife. To _me.”_

 

“ _Cooool.”_

 

Brainz had to chuckle, he just loved when their face lit up like that. That constant blush always turned a lighter color.

 

“He told me, ‘It’s a real nasty and cruel world. People will do everything they can to push you into harm, use your body like stool to get themselves out of the way. They’ll rip everything away from you and toss you away when you’re done and spent. **In this world: it’s kill or be killed,** kid. If you wanna survive, you gotta be faster to the draw: you gotta be _ready_ for them. And if the moment comes? Hit em with everything you got, and when they’re down on the ground? Hit em even _harder_.’”

 

His eyes shifted from going idle in thought, and to his kid. Everything he said afterwards, he wasn’t relaying this to his past self. He was speaking directly to them.

“You. Are a soldier. No matter what happens to you, you keep on going. You don’t **stop** until the mission’s over. But what good is a soldier. _Without his knife?”_

 

He laid the knife out in his open palms, in front of those bewildered eyes. At first, they didn’t even know what to do: so he had to give a little warm nudge. 

“Take it.” 

 

“What? N- _no_ , I-”

 

Brainz gently shook the thing, he lightly teased.

“C’ _moonn._ Take it. Takeittakeittakeittakeit.”

 

He _knew_ they wanted to, it was just a case of redundant modesty, modesty wasn’t his thing and he cared not for it. But finally, the kid’s small hands grasped the handle and relieved him of the tool: they caressed it like it was a newborn. 

“Are you _sure_ you just wanna _give_ this to me?”

 

“Every soldier’s gotta have a knife.”

 

“Bu-but, your _dad_ gave this to you, it should be _yours:_ like a _family_ thing.”

 

Brainz huffed and pondered something for a moment, but then he had that glint in his eyes.

“Well you got me there, it _is_ mine. And that means I can do whatever I want with it, and I wanna give it to _you._ You’re family to me, _way more than mine EVER was, don’t you overlook that.”_

 

He could just notice the shininess to their eyes before they shook their bangs to conceal them, the kid went silent for a moment and their grip on the knife tightened. Then a nod started, their voice wobbled and whispered.

“Okay… thank you.” 

 

Brainz grasped their shoulder, the flinch had gotten so much better since he met them: he could barely notice it now. His voice was smooth and soft, sincere as he could be. 

“Keep that on you wherever you go, you hear me? No matter what comes to you, you’ll have a way to defend yourself. But even with that, the most important thing I want you to hold onto: **it’s KILL or be KILLED** . Don’t give them a chance, they don’t deserve it. Just like you don’t deserve to take shit from _anyone…_ But don’t worry, bud. Long as I’m alive, if anyone ever lays a finger on you? I’ll kill’em.”

 

They looked right up into his eyes.

“Do you really mean that?”

 

He grasped their other shoulder and held them tightly in his hands.

“I promise. If anything _ever_ happened to you, I would spend the rest of my life hunting them down. You wouldn’t be able to _stop_ me. Even if it was the _last_ thing I did on this earth, I would kill the motherfucker…”

* * *

  


The next time he blinked, the knife was without its holster and without its owner. It wasn’t _his_ knife anymore, hadn’t been for twenty years. It belonged to _them._ He stiffened up and glazed over at those bangs on the picture. The name could just barely escape his lips, reduced to a whisper.

“Chara…” 

 

The child in the picture was all but staring at him now, Brainz wasn’t so much aware: somehow the frame was back in his hands. He gently wiped the dust from the frame, just over the human.

“ _Chara…”_

 

Over and over, rubbing his thumb on the glass. The closest he would ever get to holding them in his hands again.

**_“Chara…_ ** So this is where you went-”

 

He trembled.

“- _all_ these years. You were _here_ all along. I can’t _believe_ it…” 

 

The numbness wore off, there was nothing that could curb what he felt in this dusty room. Nothing to doubt, nothing to question. Nothing but the sound of an empty house. Not even the thoughts coming together made a sound, they were just facts on paper.

 

Asriel Dreemurr escaped this place by murdering Chara and taking their soul to cross the barrier: all within his father’s guidance. But the propagandized monster fell to the hands of whoever roamed outside, a total loss. Maybe _he_ never deserved this too, maybe even Toriel herself: the royal _bitch_ was nothing but a puppet. All the strings led back to Asgore.

Brainz let the picture go and he let go back to as he found it, face down on the dresser. The knife stayed affixed to him as he was to it. He could’ve put it back, let it rest like the picture but something else seemed so much more appropriate. So much more meaningful.

 

_‘I promise. If anything ever happened to you, I would spend the rest of my life hunting them down. You wouldn’t be able to stop me. Even if it was the last thing I did on this earth, I would kill the motherfucker…’_

 

“I told you I would...."

 

With a swift flick, the blade was flipped over in his grip: the proper way to handle for use.

“I’m gonna end this.”

 

[Ready](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd3ZeaUHwIE)

 

 

This really _was_ going to be the end, he could feel it. Brainz descended from the last step to the basement, he utilized every second that passed as he walked to fester over it, build up the rage for one last time. He was going to kill Asgore, that never changed from the moment the massive doors shut behind him.

 

A city of dust and rubble lay down below. 

 

The only thing that _did_ change was the little voice in his head that told him on any conceivable scale, that what he was about to do was justified: not only for himself, not only for Flowey, not the wretched children who were murdered down here, not even for the sake of every soul living on the surface. He made a promise to his long lost child, and he was going to keep it. 

 

The vines lined the walls and obstructed another dead lift: the light of the grand hall poured in from the arch. 

 

Asgore was alive and he was going to be in that throne room waiting… waiting for _him._ He _had_ to be. Everything happened for a reason, this perfect storm of heinous coincidences and wanton occurrences. It all happened so he could end up here, on his way to commit regicide. He couldn’t doubt it any longer, why he could never find the strength to pull the trigger on himself. Brainz didn’t believe in destiny, he didn’t believe in magic, not even the monsters that lurked under the bed. The past week had served to rip every last stitch holding his sorry reality together, letting the lies spill out onto the concrete. Everything was determined from the moment he thought he pulled off his end, jumping down that hole in that dark cavern room… or did it go even further back? The drive to that checkpoint, the night before, the year he was made out… or the year the monsters took Chara away from him. It could have gone back even _further,_ when the sirens first showed up. One thing was for certain though: this wasn’t his redemption. There was no saving him, but he could damn well make sure of that for someone else.

 

He stopped when he entered the hall of delta runes, or what was _left_ of it, soiled by crimson and illuminated by the twilight above. The bodies of at least twenty enlisted men and women alike were scattered throughout the entire span of the room. All of their weapons and equipment littered the floor, some were still clutched in their cold dead hands. What happened here wasn’t a battle, despite the bullet holes present in every part of the room numbering in the thousands, the ounces of brass casings on the floor: it wasn’t a battle that happened here, it was a massacre. Bodies swimming in their own blood, hunched against pillars, pinned against the walls and the ceiling by _bones_ no less. At least he didn’t have to step over _all_ of them. What could’ve done this? It didn’t even occur to him, when Brainz looked upon this destroyed room: all he comprehended were the weapons and ammunition left behind. 

 

There was time: there was plenty of time to check all the pouches and root through the rucksacks: unload every weapon and compile it all together. Fate had decided to lay all this stuff out just for him: he may as well take as much as he could carry. It wasn’t like he much more walking to do, he’d be done with everything _real_ soon. 

  
...  


Some time later, his jacket was removed and laid out on the floor, a buffer to keep his belongings dry from all the liquid mortality.

**-2 stacks of M16 magazines, 11 in total: each held 30 rounds.**

**-1 Pouch of 40 millimeter grenades. The stripes on them were all different colors that he couldn’t tell.  Seven out of ten spaces were filled.**

**-2 Pouches of shotgun shells: 48 in total. He racked every used shotgun dry to collect this much ammo.**

**-1 Benelli M1014 Semi-Automatic Combat shotgun.**

**-Eight Beretta Magazines, all hand loaded to the brim with 15 rounds.**

**-2 Beretta M9 handguns. One was from his pocket, the other was pried from a dead hand.**

**-A green backpack full of plastic explosives. They were all armed and the detonator was zip tied to the strap: the button cover was the only form of safety.**

**-1 M67 fragmentation grenade covered in bloody fingerprints.**

**-1 Combat knife hauled all the way from Vietnam.**

 

He was still working on the M16 itself. This one had the grenade launcher _and_ a nifty little red laser on the side. Brainz slotted the final loose **5.56** into the gun’s magazine and made the towers even, the gun was placed nearby. Brainz was all too aware that the jacket couldn’t hold all of this: that’s why he had no intention of picking it back up off the floor. The delta rune on his back accompanied the ones on the windows that still existed. 

No, that’s what the harness was for, Brainz took the extra time to deprive a dead woman of her armor (It wasn’t like she was using it, and she made the smallest mess). He only wanted the harness off of it, he would be carrying too much of a load already to add thirty pounds of compromised ceramic and kevlar to it. This thing was _fancy,_ with all its pouches, straps, and holsters that stretched down to his legs.  Once he clipped it on, Brainz would slowly and calmly fill every nook: getting heavier with each attachment.

 

His bare chest was strung with gun magazines when a voice came from behind.

“hey hey _heyyy,_ **_jumpy!”_ **

A very _familiar_ voice, yet almost unrecognizable: it had been what, _a lifetime_ since he’d seen him? That, and it was the first time Brainz had ever heard _emotion_ in that voice.

 

“...hey sans. long time no see…”

 

Brainz didn’t bother to look at him, to notice the red streaking down the skeleton’s bare teeth or the sweat beading on the bleached skull. He was too busy adjusting the slings on his bigger guns, the pistols were already tucked in his shoulder holsters. 

“how’ve you been…?” 

  


“ _me?_ ohh i-i’ve been… just _fine._ yeah, yea- just fine. me. real uh, **_busy_ ** , you know how _I_ am. what would this place do _without_ me? **_right?”_ **

 

“that’s nice.” 

Brainz didn’t question it, not did he object. He was too busy loading up a grenade into the tube, sliding it shut with a **_*thunk!*._ **

 

Sans _laughed,_ his real laugh sounded so much less like an actual laugh and more like he was about to break down and cry. Everything he had going for him before was gone. He tried to sound as indifferent as he always did, but it was too obvious that he was _scared._

“yeaaaah, you _know. w_ atching your guys, k **_ill_ ** everyone. Seeing a bunch-ah… little bunny babies getting shot in front of their _parents._ And the all the kids crying for their _parents,_ they don’t even _know_ that they’re _deaad…_ you know.”

 

“mhm…” 

Brainz racked a shell into the M1014’s chamber and loaded another into the tube. 

 

Another really unconvincing laugh at his failure to elicit a reaction. 

“haha… yeaaah- but uhm, _hey,_ enough about _me_ and _my_ boring jobs. you’ve uh, been all _over the place._ and _boy_ you look like you’re really fed up _hankering for a break, eh?”_

 

“i’m good.” 

He let go of the M16’s charging handle and cocked it into action on its first magazine. He stood up with all of his equipment and began walking away: leaving the blood soaked jacket on the floor.

 

…

 

~~“~~ ~~Jumpy~~. _B-brainz?”_

 

He stopped, respectively. 

 

“i know we have our fun. and uh. youuu really got us! i mean like, _good one._ you got us _really_ good, even _i_ didn’t didn’t see it coming but who could ever predict _you_ and uhm-”

 

No response: Sans stopped trying to feign his voice, the desolation was all he could be genuine with. 

“You’re not gonna come back, are you…?” 

 

“nope.” 

 

“Oh. Thats. That’s what I _thought…_ you. You know what that _means,_ right? That all of this is gonna be. **_Permanent."_ **

 

Sans hadn’t said that word and _meant_ it for a very long time. 

 

Brainz had already started walking again, he probably didn’t even hear what Sans had to say. The skeleton just remembered to grin.

 

“Oh ok, that’s. _Cool._ I guess I’ll see ya. **_Later.”_ **

 

… 

 

Something made Brainz turn around finally. When he looked back to where he was, there was a puffy little jacket sitting on top of his. What he saw actually had an effect on him, enough for him to walk back and look upon the discarded thing. _He wasn’t looking at the coat._

 

He had his eyes on an M240b light machine gun for about half the time he waddled around and picked everyone clean of their stuff. There was no way he was reliably carrying such a beast of a weapon like that around, but his desire to be ‘thorough’ with this task would get the better of him.

 

Brainz left the room dragging the machine gun against the floor while a chain of [ **200 CRTG 7.62 MM NATO]** rounds followed behind. 

 

Well this was _‘it’._

 

**_THRONE ROOM_ **

 

Just like he thought, Asgore was in there: his back turned to the way in: the large cape on him was covered in holes, as if Brainz needed more evidence to know that everything fell apart here. Even as Brainz stood just outside of the flower decorated room, Asgore did nothing to respond. It wasn’t like Brainz had the jump on him, the bullets rattling across the floor eliminated any semblance of stealth. No, he was _waiting_ for him, just like Brainz thought he would be. 

 

This motionless beast of monster told him absolutely nothing, the intentions the king had: the power he held. He could have taken the soul of every dead soldier in the room before and was delaying his march to the surface world until after he did away with Brainz. If that was the case, he was dead where he stood already. But whatever it was, nothing would start until Brainz stepped forward. 

 

**_This was it._ ** The root of everything wrong with the world, and Brainz was staring at him. The reason and answer to so many of his problems. There was no feasible way to portray just how much Brainz hated him, how much he wanted to do this without a shadow of a doubt. Asgore was the one thing _objectively_ more evil than Brainz could ever dread becoming: and he had to _die. One_ of them had to die at least, and that meant _two_ things. He was going to confront Asgore and blast him into dusty smithereens, or he was going to die a horrible and painful death… either way: he won. 

 

But what was _this_ now? His path wasn’t mutually exclusive to end with the throne room, there was another way to go: a large staircase that descended into a darker place. Brainz just couldn’t make himself ignore them: Asgore waited this long, he could wait a couple more minutes. The machine gun was placed down right under the sign, and Brainz left Asgore behind while he descended.

 

You know… 

A room full of coffins was _exactly_ what he imagined as he walked down the steps. Maybe he could’ve imagined a bunch of headstones on the ground or a mass grave with names scrawled all over a rock… a pile of indistinguishable bones on the floor with scraps of clothing still disintegrating: but a room of coffins all inscribed with large hearts SOULS: that seemed about right. 

 

There were seven of them, one for every child Asgore slew. (Not all of them were ‘directly’) And look at that, the _first_ one that greeted him (The only one he could tell the color of),

**_CHARA DREEMURR_ **

  


Brainz spluttered with a very intentional and cynical laugh. ‘Dreemurr?’ Did this guy _really_ go the extra mile to tack his surname to Chara? The fucking _AUDACITY…_ as if Brainz _needed_ anymore reason to fucking kill him. Chara was _never_ part of their twisted family never _would_ be. They were too good to even belong to _Brainz._

This piece of fucking garbage… what. Did he did do the same to everyone else he murdered? _No!_ He didn’t, the names on the other coffins were just _fine_ as Brainz passed them. Names he never heard of and missing dates that normally went with gravesites. 

 

Then came the last coffin, he barely paid any time or mind to what it had to say: but it made him do a double take. **_It would become the most diabolical thing he would ever bear witness to down here. It blew everything else away, even Chara._ **

 

**_ROSEMARY RANTZ_ **  


…

‘That’s not a _kid._ That’s not a _kid_ at _all…”_

 

No matter how many times he looked away and read it again, it wasn’t an illusion. The name was as real as Chara’s: and another chunk of Brainz’s life was hooked and dragged back here. The disbelief alone was enough to break him out of the shock.

“You can’t do this _twice…_ you couldn’t have taken _both_ of them. No, I won’t believe it. _No.”_

 

With a strain, Brainz put all of his body and strength into the stone lid. He _had_ to see if this was true, even if it meant taking a look at a bunch of pulverized remains. This couldn’t be true, it couldn’t be happening. Why wouldn’t the damn thing _open?_ Why did it have to be _HERE?_

 

“Why.Why. _Why._ **_Why.WHY??”_ **

 

It didn’t budge, Brainz gave up trying, ending his effort with a despairing growl but then something… happened.. As he glared furiously at the grayed coffin: as every muscle in him clenched to the point of tearing. The heart on the lid of the thing _changed._ He saw it, it stopped everything inside him. At first it was like a light flickering but then it bled in real slowly and held itself.

 

**_Purple, the heart was purple. It wasn’t RED: it was purple. None of the other coffins changed, but this one was purple. The same shade of purple as that leather jacket he lugged around so much._ **

 

…

 

“Oh my god.”

 

**It was** **_her_ ** **jacket, wasn’t it?**

 

“ _Ohh_ my god…” 

 

He _knew_ it was hers… because it was the exact same thing she was wearing the last time he ever saw her. That was the kind of thing you could remember until the day you _died:_ how many people did he describe that coat to in hopes of finding her? How could he have not _known_ from the moment he _saw_ it put away in the glass case like that. Like it was some kind of _trophy._

 

Just when he thought he’d finally reached the deepest depths of horror, it got worse: it got _so_ much worse. **_Shame on him for thinking it couldn’t, after all he’d been though: he DESERVED this after all…_ ** **To find out ASGORE actually ruined his life** **_far_ ** **before he could do the same for himself..**

 

The croak returned to his voice, and his tone stiffened up.

 

“Twenty-fa- **_Twenty-five_ ** years, I’ve been looking for you-”

 

His hand shot towards the red coffin, and his voice went to a shout.

“I looked for _you,_ for **_THREE!”_ **

 

The anger bounced off the walls, the well had been tapped and the fury was _just_ coming to the surface. 

“And you’re gonna _tell_ me. You were both fucking **_HERE?!”_ **

As if he didn’t know already… 

 

Brainz had never screamed so loud in his life, never as wrathful as the grating caterwaul that boomed throughout the entire castle. But the aftermath wasn’t so funny this time, he wasn’t going to laugh… not until Asgore was DEAD. When he was nothing but dust getting into his boots, _then_ he’d laugh. He’d laugh and _laugh_ and **_laugh_ ** and **_LAUGH_ ** until his fucking lungs imploded and came up his throat. It’d be the funniest fucking thing in the entire world, and he could just as well _DIE_ laughing. 

 

Everything that followed was like fast-forward. The scream had crippled his vocal chords, so barely making an utterance above mouthing what he had to say next was what he did: he could barely segregate the words he was speaking so frantically, his entire body trembled. 

“Alright. Alright. You sunova **_*bitch*._ ** You think you can **_fuck_ ** me over like this?”

 

Brainz tore the M16 from his back and cradled it so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He quivered with excitement, and his mouth tried to reach his ears.

“I-I’m gonna _kill_ you. I’ma gonna **_kill_ ** you- you’re so dead. You’re so _fucking dead!_ You are _so_ dead!”   


He couldn’t stop the hysterical giggling from starting, but he put it away rather quickly. _Not now._

 

Up the stairs.

Turn left.

Turn right. 

Here he is.

 

Like the good kid told you to do: give em _hell,_ Brainz…

 

**W a s t e  t h e m o t h e r f u c k e r**

 

_“_ HEY, **_ASSHOLE!”_ **

 

He pulled the trigger on the grenade launcher…

  
  
**15:52:25**

**15:52:24**

**15:52:23**

**...**


	29. Demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've already won.

 

A flash of red: the visage of the horrendous beast vanished behind a massive plume of white smoke. Asgore must’ve known the attack was coming, he and Brainz just weren't aware that what he fired was a smoke grenade. 

‘Oh,  _ FUCK  _ me!’

 

Brainz backed away from the smoke billowing entryway and tried to load a real round into the launcher, the empty casing just hit the ground when the humongous silhouette presented itself before him. The weapon in Asgore’s grip glowed like red hot coals: a searing red trident. He heard the monster speak for the very first time, it caused him to pause on the reload and stand  very still. A deep,  _ powerful,  _ silvery sounding voice that addressed him calmly. 

“So  _ this _ is the notorious ‘Suspect Omega’, or would you prefer for me to use your personal moniker,  **_Brainz.”_ **

 

No answer, Brainz just straightened his posture: accepting the calm before the storm. Asgore continued.

“Well, I wish I could say what a pleasant surprise this is: how I am ‘glad to finally have met you’. But I do believe that we will both agree that this is no surprise nor is it pleasant…”

 

Brainz swallowed the intimidation let the rage speak for him. 

“Shut the fuck up! I know  _ all  _ about your little ‘Doomsday’ plot. It all ends  _ here!  _ I’m gonna put you down like a rabid  _ DOG!  _ Then I’m gonna PISS on your fucking  _ corpse!”  _

 

“And I have heard so much about  **_you_ ** . Your reign of terror and wanton destruction, the boundless hatred you have inflicted upon everyone you’ve crossed. The humans, how they refuse to denote you as one of them… how they refer to you as a ‘monster’ ignorant to the pain and repression being one represents… I know what you are.”

 

“ _ FUCK YOU  _ you child harvesting son of a  **_BITCH!_ ** Don’t you try to scorn  _ me!  _ You’ve had this coming for a  _ looong  _ time! You  _ ALL  _ have! They just needed to find someone horrible enough to do it! And HERE I AM! I  **_know_ ** what I  _ am _ because the only thing that can wipe a piece of shit your size off the face of the earth is  _ another  _ monster! A monster like  _ me!”  _

 

Asgore stepped forward, completely emerging from the smoke that had overtaken the throne room, Brainz prepped his weapon and backed away in retaliation. The king did not attack him, he only continued to speak: his head was bowed to the ground. Baring the crown atop his head for Brainz to see.

“We gave them nothing but kindness. And your ancestors returned it by  _ forcing  _ us into this  **_hole_ ** _ -” _

The bottom of his trident struck the ground with a jarring  **_-CRACK!- ._ **

 “-and told prejudiced fairy tales about us to frighten their children. Eventually, you would all forget that we were once  _ real,  _ that we were  _ free _ . We began to think that we were fated to rot here for eternity while you all flourished on the land you took from us above. Even  _ I  _ began to believe the same, until we all discovered when our hearts were broken, and our dreams were destroyed…”

 

His large and horned head looked straight down at Brainz, the collective fury in the king’s eyes was something to match Brainz’s. The tone of the monster king’s voice became all the more sinister.

“When humans attacked my children with the same  _ ferocity  _ and mercilessness that brought us here before… I understood that the same people who brought us to this pathetic existence still roamed the earth. People born without mercy or kindness who would strike down a child no less than a warrior... people like  **_you.”_ **

 

Brainz had over a  _ thousand  _ retorts he wanted to scream right back, but nothing came out of him. He couldn’t even  _ move.  _ It was like Asgore was holding him in stasis with that condemning stare. He’d have to choice but to hear what he had to say, and just hope the moment the fight would start, that his body would listen to him again. Asgore continued, still without raising his voice.

 

“I knew then, that you would come back to finish the remainder of us off. Long before I forced myself to do what I had to for the good of this kingdom, long before your  _ army  _ arrived, when I had to let a small piece of myself die with every human lost down here, I was terrified that it would all be in vain.”

 

A sadness took over his gaze, Brainz wanted to feel nothing for it: but it made his insides clench together. 

“Then a human was brought to my attention by the atrocities being committed. It failed to occur to me until I saw what you had done to my own: my Undyne. The savagery, the  _ cruelty.  _ It was  _ you,  _ you were the one sent all the way from the war to destroy us: leading your own army of malice.” 

 

The monster began to let more of his fury come out, his voice became louder and his movements became faster. Every swing of the arm or jarring turn made Brainz flinch.

“I was prepared to do  _ whatever _ it took to protect my people. To sacrifice my sense of self by taking the SOULs into me and using that power to drive every last one of you away. But then I heard her voice through your radios, my.  **Wife.** The invaders caught the weakness in my eyes and they knew how to exploit it.”   
  


They had backed far away from the space of confined smoke and were now creeping into the hall full of bodies, Brainz nearly tripped over a severed arm still clutching a shotgun. Asgore’s eyes were now burning, he was angry and only getting angrier. 

“I sat and  _ let  _ my own people get  _ slaughtered  _ by the likes of you.  _ Just  _ because I couldn’t  _ BEAR  _ to lose the only piece of my life I had  _ LEFT.  _ Then… I hear  **_your_ ** voice coming from the radio; I hear the terrible sound of fighting, I hear her  **_begging_ ** for you for mercy, I hear the terrible sound of your weapon. And then there is nothing…  **You** **_murdered_ ** **her.”**

 

The accusation broke the haze on him and  the mention of Toriel was the spark to reignite everything. Asgore had listened in the entire time. Brainz stopped backing away and stamped his feet on the very ground he occupied. 

“The FUCK are you on about?! She  _ brought it on herself and YOU KNOW IT!!  _ That  **_BITCH_ ** coaxed my trust out of me and then used it to FUCK ME OVER! She  _ deserved  _ that fucking bullet! She woulda deserved all  _ SIX  _ of them! And you know what? She  _ deserved  _ to be nothing but a PAWN for the army, that’s all she was  _ worth  _ for a piece of death worshipping GARBAGE! Don’t you fucking even  _ TRY  _ to make me doubt myself, you guys fucking  _ deserve  _ it! YOU DESERVE  **_ALL_ ** OF THIS!” 

 

Duress entered Asgore’s voice.

“I will have no doubt in what is about to transpire here, you have made sure of it. But I feel obligated to tell you, with your biased and hate instilling view on me: that I have altered what I am going to do. If I defeat you here: I will not ‘destroy humanity’, instead I will use the power of the souls to assist me on traveling around the entire earth and ridding it of everyone like  **_you._ ** So that no one will ever have to suffer this fate you have wrought on us.”

 

The monster’s grip on his weapon tightened and his glare on Brainz only became more hate filled. The rant from Brainz would only put him and Asgore on even grounds. 

“You: deluded,  _ self- _ **_righteous,_ ** _ OooverZEALOUS,  _ piece of HIPPOCRATIC  **_FFFUCK!!!_ ** This was  _ NEVER  _ about  **_‘Asssrieeel’_ ** WAS IT?!”

 

He made sure to pronounce that name as mocking and ungraciously as he could. With full meaning to cause pain in the late-child’s father. Brainz noticed perfectly the teeth pressing into each other with tremendous force, the shaking on Asgore’s trident. He was far from done though.

“He was no more than an  _ excuse  _ for you to go apeshit on everyone! So you’d feel  _ better,  _ you keep tellin yourself you’re  **_‘justified’_ ** for  _ everything  _ you do! Think you’re so high’n mighty? Tell me then, what made it ok to fuck up your own son?! Make him a dumb, gutless coward like  _ you!!”  _

 

A sharp huff, then the lowest growl he’d ever heard.

“ **Do** **_not._ ** **Speak. About. My** **_son…”_ **

 

Brainz hunched forward, and sneered: emphasizing every word as much as he could.

“ **STUUPID. GUTLESS.** **_MOTHA-FUCKER!!!!”_ **

 

He loaded the grenade launcher and fired the instant before Asgore assailed him: the trident radiating with fire. The heaping load of buckshot sent the beast flailing backwards, the sound of the led ripping into his armor was the bell to begin the battle.    
  
  


[I am justified.](https://youtu.be/82L5P5DjZy0)

* * *

 

 

 

A storm of white hot projectiles flooded the hall and all tried to take Brainz down, he rushed for one of the pillars and took shelter from the fireballs alongside a dead medic. The onslaught ceased, he peeked from cover and emptied his first magazine within seconds, the second one would go into the gun when the next barrage of flames came his way. 

 

Asgore was burning to kill him, the stress his attacks put on the pillar just screamed the fact, large cracks and fissures formed all over. Brainz would take the next gap in the heat to dash across the room for better cover, spraying bullets as he sprinted. 

 

He was already on his third reload and about to use it up: but something beside the empty magazine he chucked away caught his eye from behind. The balls of fire manifested themselves all around him and were closing in fast, no correlation to where the monster was: no time to think. Brainz dropped the backpack of explosives from his shoulders and dove out onto the floor, narrowly missing the attacks as they exploded onto the stone.

 

He landed on a body, the blood smeared all over him, but more red up above. The trident twirled above the crown and was then thrusted down for him. Asgore stood above and death came from above and then  **_DUST._ **

 

A small cloud of dust burst into the air, Asgore aborted his attack and recoiled back, grunting in pain and clutching his dominant claw. A nine millimeter punched three holes clean through his palm and had no trouble coursing right through his chest, through the armor and out the other side with more dust spilling out. 

 

When Brainz realized the bullets were going right through, he made sure a hell of a lot more would come Asgore’s way, even going so far as to retrieve the beretta’s twin when the first one went dry. Every measure taken to fill that motherfucker with lead, no mercy allowed: not even a hint of delay. He pressed forward and gave his shots a closer target to tear into.

 

But the flames returned with just as much force. They were _everywhere,_ like two trains rushing on either side of the room and _weaving_ between all the pillars and piles of bleeding mortality. There was no avoiding it, the fireballs deviated too much, Brainz backed away from the hunched monster as much as he could before he felt the excruciating burning sensations. They were like bricks drenched in burning petrol smashing into his bare skin.

**_One in the shoulder._ **

**_One to his thigh._ **

**_One right under his chin._ **

**_The rest came too fast to even distinguish._ **

 

The smell of searing flesh made the pain worse: it took his attention away from Asgore long enough that he wouldn’t see the monster again until he had already closed the gap, swinging that trident like a pendulum just yearning to take Brainz’s head off. Instincts took over, thought took a backseat. 

 

**_Leap backwards,_ **

[Miss]

**_Crouch to the left,_ **

[Miss]

**_Throw yourself to the right._ **

 

But he wasn’t quite fast enough, the blade winged him under his arm: all he could reserve for it was a guttural wince as a hand dove into his clenched armpit. 

Asgore swung one more time, much lower than the other attacks: it would’ve cut Brainz into two: he tensed up and froze in the moment, seeing a glimpse of blue through his squinted eyes. 

[Miss] 

 

**_How?_ **

  
Didn’t matter, it was coming back to try again: Everything Brainz had on the moment was  _ empty,  _ he went for the only weapon he could pull out in such short notice. As if a knife would be able to hold against that big fucking thing. He had no hindrance to the urge to lunge forward and stab the beast in the belly but he  would never get that chance because Asgore lost all focus as he gazed upon the weapon, he just couldn’t make himself attack again: as the human held it threateningly while hunched over from injury: shouting all about it. He had a whole new attack to carry out.

 

“Oh you know what this  _ is, dont’cha?!  _ You  _ seen  _ this before?! This ain’t just a ‘ _ knife’  _ **_OHHHH_ ** **NO. It’s ‘THAT’ one!”**

He sliced at the air with it and saw the step back that Asgore took, the monster still refused to make eye contact. Perhaps he was too afraid... 

 

“You wouldn’t BELIEVE where I  _ fuck’n  _ found this! Almost as if ‘ _ someone’  _ was tryn’ta HIDE it from me!”

 

“...you didn’t…”

 

“ _ OOHHHHH  _ yes I  _ did!” _

 

The quivering in the monster’s deep voice accompanied the audible and shaky breathing. He was brought down to a whisper as he still couldn’t come to terms enough to fight. 

“H-how  **_could_ ** you? After everything y-you have done so far. How could you even conduct yourself to stoop so far down and  **_desecrate_ ** the memories of  _ children….”  _

 

The pain in Brainz’s throat could do nothing to prevent the extent of his response.

“ _ OHH  _ Get off your fucking HIGH HORSE!! Fact, the truth  _ is?  _ This isn’t  _ NEARLY  _ as reprehensible as you’d tug it up to be! And you know  **_WHY?_ ** Because  **THIS-”**

 

He threw his other arm out to gesture at the weapon, the cut bled freely from the lack of pressure but he was too enveloped in fury to notice.

“- is  **_MY_ ** knife!” 

 

“You are  _ lying…” _

 

**“** The  _ fuck  _ I am!! This is  _ MINE!  _ **LOOK!** LOOK AT THE HANDLE!”

 

Asgore shook his head willfully and refused to do so, Brainz only shouted harder.

**_“LOOK!_ ** **LOOK AT IT, YOU** **_COCKSUCKER!!!”_ **

 

He finally saw the glint in those huge eyes, and now he had Asgore where he wanted: forcing his own truth down his throat, starting with the letters embedded in the grip.

“ **B. A.** **_R._ ** I  _ betchu  _ you don’t know what that even  _ means!  _ In fact, I’m the ONLY ONE who  _ does!  _ It stands for  **_BYRAN ANDREW RANTZ!-”_ **

 

There was a moment of confusion, and then pure shock in those eyes. Asgore was utterly silent, letting Brainz continue without obstacle. Letting him shake the signifying blade with tremendous intent. 

“-This was  _ my  _ knife!.. And  **_Chara,_ ** was  _ my kid!” _

 

Asgore gasped, then stared right into Brainz’s  burning scarlet eyes and uttered what would cause them to widen even more.

“You… You’re ‘Uncle  _ Brainz _ ”...

 

Only two people had ever had the right to say that name to him, and Asgore was the reason they were both gone. He had to stop processing the seconds coming by just to let all the thoughts rush through…

It had been exactly twenty years since the last time he’d heard that title, twenty years since he’d seen Chara alive and well. 

 

**_How many times did they say that name, that their Uncle Brainz would come down and find them, take them away from all this? Or how long did it take before they realized that despite everything he’d promised that he’d let them down that one final time before they wouldn’t be able to care about it anymore. They hoped and hoped for him…_ ** **BUT NOBODY CAME.**

 

**…**

 

Hearing Asgore say that name was the worst kind of insult he’d ever taken: the red overtook him and everything felt like it had burst into flames.

" _ **YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!"**_

 

The knife pinwheeled through the air and the sharp end embedded itself right into Asgore’s throat. It was far from enough to kill him, because that’s not what it was intended to do: all it wanted was to make him  _ reel _ back and distract him long enough for a semi automatic shotgun to be pressed right onto his crown.

 

It was blown right of his head alongside one of his horns in huge puff of dust: Brainz would’ve done it again but the tremendous recoil was too much for his wounded side to take, he fell backwards, Asgore did the same: and both of them would get up as if it were nothing and continued the battle. 

 

**(...)**

 

Hundreds of bullets had whizzed one way… He was going to kill Asgore, even if that meant blowing the other three fourths of his body mass away.

Dozens of dozens of fireballs flew the other way… The burns on Brainz were close to covering his entire being: cooked skin sloughed off of him. What he had left on his muscles was smoldering.

 

There was no attention to pain, no sense of retreat: they were both determined to kill each other and were far passed the point of mortality. It was now nothing more than who would lose to inevitability first. 

 

The room had partially caught on fire, the bodies charred with it: various  **_*POPS*_ ** could be heard as unused ammunition exploded from the heat.

 

The torrent of fireballs lost most of its focus, Asgore couldn’t manifest them for even _half_ the time he stared with, and he’d only one eye to see them. His left claw was nothing but a dust spreading nub. Still he gave everything he had, grunting with effort and meaning as he shot more balls of flame down the hall. But another impact struck him in his face, turning his nostrils into one big hole in his face. 

Brainz was down to the handguns, their recoil was all he could stand to bear now: that and most of his ammunition had passed through or was stuck into Asgore’s form. He took one fireball to his stomach but kept limping directly forward with a beretta in each hand. Dual wielding was always going to be impractical, he never saw himself being so stupid in all his life: but this was a  _big_ target...   Every shot could barely wait behind the other, every twitch that ran through the monster’s body was just a reason to pull the triggers again, all thirty times. 

 

The trident came back as Brainz tried to load his last two magazines into the weapons, he got through one of them when he saw the red swing and put up his other arm to block it. The blade sliced his forearm, he could feel it only stopping at his  _ bone.  _ There was no ‘savoring’ it, he didn’t even try to get away, Brainz only extended his other arm, loaded gun in hand and popped more rounds from just feet away from Asgore’s face: just trying to put out the other eye. 

 

Asgore swung again: blindly as the bullets rent his face, he hit higher: slicing Brainz’s shoulder open, but Brainz would  _ not  _ stop: he only fired the gun even faster, shoving the magazine in his crippled arm into the gun and taking more from Asgore’s face. 

 

The third swing was desperate, it was aimed higher than he had ever done before: missing the hemorrhaging arm entirely and only catching Brainz with the barb at the end of it. It split his right eye into two and tore his cheek open on the way down. Of course he dropped his weapon and stumbled back while his face bled out onto his hands, the ‘freak eye’ was now his  _ only  _ eye, and he’d spend the rest of his life bearing his teeth. All he could think about was inflicting it right back, Brainz grabbed an empty M16 from the ground and bashed Asgore away with it.

 

“I  _ liked  _ that eye but I guess fair’s fair…” 

 

Brainz had only half the volume and energy to project himself, so tired and numb that the emotions didn’t make it. Asgore only had half of his head, he only outstretched his trident with his remaining claw. Brainz adjusted the grip on the weapon, clutching it by its handguard and prepping it like a baseball bat. He barely had the pressure inside his torn mouth to spit the glob of blood to the floor.

“Bring it, you motherfucker…” 

 

They both charged at each other, knowing it was the final round: their attacks were exhausted down to their most primal forms and their bodies were breaking down. Every time the weapons clashed, a wince or a shudder would follow: every strike became a display of mutual agony regardless if it hit or not. The butt of the gun struck Asgore over and over, his height did little except hinder him from avoiding the blows, his own retaliations were clumsy and seldom hit above the grazes and scrapes. Brainz still spoke, even as he swung and blocked, his own desperation curdled in his winded tone.

“You  _ know!  _ ( _ Mmph!)  _ I don’t know  _ why  _ you’re so ( _ NnncHG!)  _ BUMMED! You die and you get- ( **_Augh!)_ ** you get to be with your family again! Your son! Your  **_*BITCH!*_ ** Of a wife! You can burn in hell with them! I’m  _ NEVER  _ seeing  _ my  _ kid again!”

 

Asgore’s focus was gone once more, the next back end of the gun to his knee sent him to the floor, he would let Brainz beat him over his head over and over just like that. Brainz grew increasingly agitated as more dust stuck to the gun. 

“Come  _ ONNNN!  _ GET UP you mother- _ fucker!  _ GET UP! Fucking  _ FIGHT  _ me!”

 

He refused, the only sounds he made were the croaks as the gun struck him and brought him closer and closer to death. Brainz hit him harder than his ability to fight ever could limit him, this was supposed to be his climactic end and Asgore was trying to deprive him of that too. He could not stop himself from deforming the gun, he was striking the downed monster so hard. 

“ _ Fuck you! FUCK YOU!!  _ **_FUUCK YOOU!!_ ** YOU PIECE OF FUCKING  _ GARBAA-AAAAA-GGE!!  _ YOU’RE  _ TRASH _ , YOUR WHOLE  _ FAMILY  _ IS TRASH!! YOU’RE GONNA GO OUT LIKE YOUR SON DID. A BIG WHINING  **_PUSSY!!_ ** THAT’S WHY ASRIEL DIED, BECAUSE HE WAS A  **_PUSSY LIKE YOU!!!”_ **

 

The trident came to be in Asgore’s grip one more time and was thrust right into Brainz’s exposed abdomen. He made a sound similar to the most drawn out and guttural gasp ever uttered. The prongs went right through him and their flat heads emerged out of his back, the red weapon turned a darker scarlet as his blood ran down it. The gun clattered to the floor and Asgore rose up still gripping the weapon impaling the human. Both of them stared at the wound site, the head of the trident hit the tattoo on his stomach like a bullseye, further deforming it as he bled profusely. The monster saw something else of that smudge of ink and blood, something that exacerbated his despairing expression. He knew what he was looking at, somehow… 

“It was  _ you _ . Wasn’t it?”

 

Brainz couldn’t even begin to show the bewilderment when Asgore yanked the trident out of him with more force than when he put it in, it tore open everything on the way out and spattered the dusty monster with the warm liquid. 

 

Brainz impulsively ran his hands on the holes in his gut: beyond a futile effort. He expelled more blood from his mouth than ever… and collapsed onto the floor. There was no getting up from this. He gurgled for a minute as blood ran from the corners of his lips, his convulsions ceased and he went still. His blood red eye stared straight up into the ceiling, as his body lay in a growing puddle of itself. He would emptily stare into the eye of the monster king who stood over him. 

 

Asgore’s gaze was almost as unbroken as Brainz’s cold stare, but he had to blink when the tears clouded his vision too much. His quivering voice was barely above a whisper, the weakness in his composure and body attributed to that.

“You were involved in it, you’ve worn your sin for long enough…  _ this.  _ This is for my son.” 

 

His attention was brought back to Brainz’s perforated stomach. He  _ knew  _ he wasn’t dead, Asgore knew the confirmation of death all too well to be fooled by this act. He may have mortally wounded the human just now, but the next strike would kill him for sure, he rose his trident in the air with damning finality. The body on the floor started to laugh. 

 

At first it was nothing but a throaty wheezing sound, but Brainz soon couldn’t wretch enough of his blood out to laugh as hard as he was. A sick, deranged howl riddled with innuendo, he stared at the monster dead in the eye as he did it. The soiled hall of judgement echoed with his giddy and deriding hysteria. 

 

He was going to die and it meant the end of the world… he wouldn’t have problems anymore: he’d be free.  **_But that’s not why he was laughing…_ **

 

As his execution was delayed, Brainz rose a hand up to Asgore: a pull ring twirled around the erect middle finger. The moment he saw that eye train on it, Brainz lurched up and drove his clenched hand right into the massive hole he inflicted to Asgore’s groin. The arm sprung from the grenade as it embedded itself into the compacted dust inside. 

 

He let himself fall back to the floor as he watched the monster double over in panic, it was already too late to do anything more. He had no intention to even try, closing his eye and wearing that rictus grin on his face one final time. He hoped this was close enough for Flowey, wherever he was watching this from… 

 

All in all... this wasn't such a bad way to die. It was just so bizarre to consider that this was what his life amounted to. It could've went so much better in an infinite amount of ways, but he had finally decided that he'd quite enough of it all. Pulling that pin was the easiest decision he'd ever made. 

 

[Broken](https://soundcloud.com/user-37215732/kaboom/s-rkmdV)   
  
**15:33:12**

**15:33:11**

**15:33:10  
**

**...**


	30. What Makes a monster?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I could die for you. But I couldn't, and wouldn't, live for you...

Brainz was already dead where he stood; just because he was still breathing didn’t mean he survived the blast. He knew it wouldn’t be so easy: fated to die a slow and painful death as the shrapnel split his right hand to pieces and ripped a hole in his heart. He knew he was going though, there was no stopping it, the dreamlike weakness was already beginning to seep through his narrowing veins. He was as white as a ghost, wholly covered in dust that stuck to his sticky skin and coated his wounds, it burned so much. He  _ had  _ to go out like this, swallowed by agony to the very end. No… there was another reason he still existed, and it made itself clear. 

 

Brainz was too weak to get up, his vision was degrading and the struggling pulse was all he could ‘ _ hear’ _ as the blast took most of his hearing away but he could see that form on the ground as clear as day. Only half of Asgore existed as a pile of dust, the grenade had destroyed everything under his torso and took a full arm with it. Asgore was in a sense: Hors de combat, but he was still  _ alive…  _ and that had to be fixed. He was on his way out too, but Brainz’s release wouldn’t come until it was ensured. No more chances: no more time.

He brought himself closer to the remains, dragging himself across the floor with his remaining hand and painting the tile with his blood. His strength had withered below the point where he could simply push all the bodies and debris out of the way, moving became so much harder with every bit of blood he lost. Yet somehow: using his dropped assault rifle as a support: Brainz propped himself up and slouched against the only intact pillar to stay that way. 

 

The monster was laying face down, upper body smothered by the scorched fabric that once made his attire. Not good enough.

 

Brainz nearly collapsed as he let go of the impromptu cane, his one arm outstretched, final weapon clutched in his bloody and shaking grip. He aimed the blood smeared pistol at Asgore’s head and took every shot slowly and meticulously: waiting for his arm to resteady from the recoil before pulling the trigger again. Every shot ringing out was a moment of anticipation, just waiting for that last burst of dust. It didn’t happen, not even when he reloaded his last magazine into the gun, clutching it against his bleeding stomach as one arm had to do everything.

 

**_*KLICK!*_ **

**_..._ **

**_*KLICK!*_ **

**_..._ **

**_*KLICK!*_ **

**_..._ **

  
  
  


That was it, Asgore was still there and the gun was empty. His head was mostly gone now, but the job still wasn’t over. 

Brainz had nothing left to finish it with, not with his diminishing ability. Well, there was  _ one  _ thing he could do, and increasingly less time to do it. The pistol fell to the floor, and Brainz grasped Asgore by his one elongated horn. He wasn’t too heavy, good: because getting there was already becoming the hardest thing he’d done. Brainz had started shivering, all the feeling in his digits was gone. 

It was such a long trip: stumbling on each step and having to lean against the wall to reorient himself, then to drag that piece of filth up to him: repeat over and over again, watch the blood and dust follow your path, pass by the weapon left unused, the stairwell that brought you to your lowest point in hell. 

...

The throne room was engulfed by a cloud of black smoke, the flora that infested it had caught fire from the smoke grenade, Brainz brought the two of them right in. Letting Asgore’s kingdom burn down all around him, the flowers withered as their petals were stained red. In the corner of the room, nearly charred back was a smaller looking throne, smaller than the one in the center: itself was still untouched by the flames. 

‘Good analogy’ 

Brainz thought. She was already burning in hell, Asgore was yet to arrive: but the fires would reach soon enough. He dragged himself and the monster through the fires, he was at the point he couldn’t even feel pain anymore, everything had already died from the heat damage. What did it matter if he smelled burning hair again? 

 

He couldn’t support his legs any further: Brainz swayed into a wall and slid down onto the floor, sighing with a breath he’d never really get back. Even as he sat there, watching the blood spreading from him, he couldn’t breathe: nothing but shallow wheezes. It was fine though, he made it.

 

So  _ this  _ was the fabled barrier he’d learned so much about, for something he’d fought so hard to get to: it felt awfully anticlimactic. To his left was nothing but a passage filled with moonlight, no wall of energy or massive blockade to discourage. The exit was just  _ there,  _ but the bodies lined up just before the light would beg that it was inaccessible to them. All the effort in the world meant nothing, and they would all waste away here. But Brainz…

 

He turned to his right, at the motionless piece of boss monster he dragged in. The key to  _ ‘Everything he ever wanted’...  _ he snorted and spat a glob of blood onto him. 

“P-piece of shh- _ it… _ see you in hell…. _ ”  _

 

His head felt like it weighed a million pounds, he slumped over and closed his eye. Something should’ve been screaming at him, for all the misery he went through just to give up like this: but it was all quiet. 

 

_ This  _ is what he worked for, the lives he snuffed out, the lies he told: innocence corrupted rotten. In the end, he only would have saved himself. What exactly  _ did  _ he save for himself anyway? A mountainside full of trucks wearing the army star? Blinding lights all hitting him from above? Another twenty years of running and hiding, knowing the first round of it was all for  _ nothing?  _ Having to live for more than five minutes carrying the ponderous burden of what he'd discovered? 

You know what? Dying here was just fine, he wasted enough time being alive already, for nobody. A real nowhere man, about to become nothing.

Just let the numbness come in… the first time he’d ever willingly fallen asleep. But of course there had to be a catch… 

 

A whirring noise that he could feel in the floor, not only that: but the sound of shuffling from Asgore’s body.

‘ _...What…. Now….’  _

 

The world was nothing but a collage of blurs at this point, but there were  _ colors  _ now. 

‘...The fuck?...’ 

 

If it was a problem, it would only be  _ his  _ for another minute or two, but it made Asgore look up, so it was obviously significant. Brainz tilted his head up and drowsily squinted. It looked like…  _ Jars.  _ Seven glass jars with…  **_those were SOULs_ ** **floating in them.** All but one jar contained the suspended essence of a person. What kind of trait determined the color of a soul anyway; there was a  _ blue  _ one, one  _ teal, green, yellow, orange, and… purple.  _ Just like the coffin, just like her jacket. Trapped just like everyone else… robbed of even the eternal rest she deserved.

 

He looked at Asgore, seeing that faded eye staring at them.  **_Perverted motherfucker…_ **  This wasn’t his ‘life’s work’ the shrine of his twisted ambitions. This was life, unfairly taken away.  _Byran's_ life, taken away.

 

“You know what I d-d-did?”

Brainz gasped painfully and croaked, he looked right to Asgore and waited for the eye to look at him. He put more of his last flame into speaking.

“You know what I.  _ Did?  _ Because of you?” 

 

No answer, Brainz suddenly stood up with only moderate difficulty and unbalance, he staggered over to one of the dead soldiers against the barrier and came back clutching a rifle by its carry handle. He looked Asgore dead in the eye one last time: then he went ballistic. 

 

“YOU KNOW WHAT I  _ DID?!?!  _ FUCKING  _ BECAUSE  _ OF YOU!!!”

The green soul’s prison was destroyed by the butt of the rifle, Brainz bashed the container until there was no trace of the color. 

“YOU. FUCKING  _ BASTARD!!!”  _

 

He swung the weapon widely and nearly fell over, the yellow container was smashed open, and the soul dissipated shortly after. The newest look of abject despair taking over Asgore’s fractionated face only granted him further inexplicable and furious energy, a second wind to serve as his last to be burned up in a whirlwind of repressed misery. The blue container went next, Brainz pounded the glass shards on the ground into powder before he spun around, stomped up to Asgore and threw his arms out.

“YOU KNOW WHAT I FUCKING  **_SUFFERED?!?!_ ** I SUFFERED BECAUSE OF  **_YOU._ ** AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THESE  _ FUCKING  _ SOULS AND MY  _ FUCKING  _ KID-”

 

Asgore tensed up when Brainz swung again, but only the sound of more shattering glass made him look again. Seeing Brainz swinging the rifle over his head with his one hand, clumsily staggering with every impact as all the shards bounced into the air. His yells quickly became strained and sounded a lot more like wails now. 

“- YOU RUINED MY  _ LIFE  _ AND THEN YOU TRY TO-”

 

He spluttered uncontrollably and seemed to leap from one hysterical topic to the next. The gun turned club dropped onto the pile of broken glass and Brainz held up his hand (and stub) and shook them violently.

“-YOU KNOW WHAT I DID WITH THESE-  **_FF-F-FUCKING_ ** HANDS?!”

 

He struck himself in his torn face with them, touching the wounds together and spattering himself with even more blood.

“ _ DO YOU??!   _ **_DO YOU???!?? JUST-”_ **

 

The gun was snatched up and in the same spin around, he pulverized the orange soul container and even the empty one.

“- **WHAT’DD I EVER** **_DO TO YOOUU???!!”_ **

 

He charged back up to Asgore and held the weapon up as if to smash his head in, he even jerked his arms up to precede the swing, but he changed his mind and went up to the last standing container. Again, he wound his arms up to swing one,two, and three times, but in the end… he couldn’t do it. Brainz just threw the rifle away as hard as he could and completely emancipated his rage. 

“ **_FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCK!!!!!!!”_ **

 

He took one retching gasp and then collapsed onto the floor with a heavy **_*THUD* ._** Blood geysered from his nose. Brainz weakly curled up around the purple container and rubbed the glass gently, pressing his forehead against the cold lifeless exterior. 

“ _ I’m ss-s-soo sorry… I’m so sorry. I’m sorry-ss-orry-so-sosorry…”  _

 

It was just whispers now, shaky and broken whispers, fragmented by his final gasps and dry sobs. 

“It’s all my fault. I  _ know.  _ I-I, I am  _ so _ .  **_Sorry,_ ** I-I-i didn’t know, it’s, it’s alright now, I finally found you- I-I can make it- I-I-  **_it’s OK, Rose. It’s OK, we’re gonna be just fine. We’re all gonna be just fine…”_ **

 

It sounded like sand blowing in the wind…  Through the smeared glass, Brainz saw a pile of dust spreading to the floor. Asgore had died right there and then.

He  **_‘won’._ **

  
  


So why did he start choking up…

Brainz retched and retched and  _ retched.  _ The whimper built with every passed one, crashing into his sinuses until… 

**He screamed. Over and** **_over_ ** **again. Every agonized howl was louder, longer and more painful than the last, he screamed with every bit of grief he’d ever absorbed. Closing his eye as tightly as he could trying in vain to make it all go away. But as he lay in the stabbing debris of his broken life, all he could do was scream. Scream from the terror, the heartache, the horrible truth. The castle was flooded with the sounds of a human breaking apart. The echoes would be the last time his voice was carried into the world, when they finally ceased:**

 

[Brainz was dead...](https://youtu.be/TbQCOcppc5c)

  
  


[He screamed until the very end.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iqxzURgQWg)

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here we are again...  
> Closing the end cover on another book.
> 
> It's actually so much more than that, I know it's all about the journey itself rather than the destination. But getting here has been such a huge deal for me that I find myself wiping away a tear. I would never have been able to get this far without the friends I've had walk with me throughout this. 
> 
> The support I've had from the everyone in the Fanfic Paradise, this book may have never come to a finish without it,  
> and to Mz_Mere, this entire story wouldn't exist without you. 
> 
> Thank you for being with me. 
> 
> I look forward to hiking the next mile with you all.
> 
> -Bad Dreems.


End file.
